Remnants of blades
by MonksyD
Summary: Due to age and major damage to the Mor Ardian titan, Morag takes leave of Rex's party to go and help her countries evacuation, Tora and Poppi following to help. But after Morag, Poppi and two of her Blades she brought along fall into the ether mine on its back, a distortion in another world transports them to that world. Now the group needs to find a way back to Alrest.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: The fall of a titan

 _Italics= character thoughts_

 **Warning: This chapter contains spoilers for chapter 9 of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Got that? Good, on with the story.**

* * *

Morag glanced out over the crumbling form of Mor Ardain, ether fueled explosions blowing chunks of rock and stone-like flesh off the titan. She turned to a soldier.

"Can't this ship go any faster?!" she yelled.

"Unfortunately, the sky's are still filled with Indol troops and Tornan artificial blades, we're trying to minimise damage special inquisitor." he explained.

Morag sighed and turned away.

"Understood, can you check on Tora and Poppi down in the engine room?"

"Of course inquisitor!" the soldier saluted before running off.

Morag continued to scan the slowly approaching city as something flew out of it and came over to the ship. A grey haired woman in a draconic mech frame flew up to her.

"Herald, how is it?"

"Unfortunately, it isn't good. The military are struggling to evacuate Alba Cavanich's populace. Panic is rampant. I assisted in removing a large metal beam that had trapped a family, but there are many more. Emperor Niall is on the streets attempting to calm the citizens." Herald reported.

Morag's face dropped.

"His Majesty hasn't evacuated!"

"He refuses to leave until his people are safe."

 _Damn it Niall, what are guards doing_ Morag thought.

* * *

Loud grinding and clanking filled the engine room as Tora fiddled with a cracked pressure equalizer.

"Meh meh! Why titan engine being so stupid. Should be better at being pushed! Ardainian tech usually able to take damage well" he grumbled as a steam pipe ruptured.

"Wah! P-Poppi fix steamy pipe!"

"Roger Masterpon." Poppi nodded launching up to the pipe and forcing the parts together.

She pulled out a metal band and wrapped it around the pipe, sticking it together. Another dial cracked.

"Masterpon it getting too dangerous in here." Poppi warned.

"Tora and Poppi have to keep titan working in besty way we can. Friend Morag need to save people and brother!"

Poppi suddenly changed into her qtπ form and grabbed Tora, dragging him away. Before he could resist, half the engine exploded, vapourising his tools.

"No! Those belonged to Grampypon Soosoo…" Tora lamented as a soldier ran into the room.

"That was that?!"

"Half of engine go boom." Poppi stated "Titan movement capability decreased by 50%."

"That isn't go-gah!" the room suddenly began to go sideways.

"Titan may be going down!" Tora yelled.

Poppi ran passed the guard carrying Tora as the corridor flipped to the other side. She kicked open a door and they saw Morag holding onto a pole.

"Tora, Poppi! What happened!?"

"Engine go boom! Destroyed Tora's tools."

"Engine cannot be fixed. Titan is going down!" Poppi added.

A soldier ran up to them.

"Special inquisitor! Take the Nopon and the Blades and flee!"

"I am not leaving you all here to die." Morag stated righting herself.

"We're going to crash into the cloud sea. We'll try to get the ship running again and get it to Mor Ardain, but you must go help with the evacuation!"

Before she could reply, another door opened and a dark skinned woman with icy blue-white hair stumbled out.

"I forced all but the pilot and this soldier to use their escape pods! The pilot refuses and I couldn't find this guy." she said.

"Thank you Perun." Morag said fixing her hat.

"Come on you, no getting yourself killed over nothing." Perun grabbed the soldier and dragged him away.

"Poppi, bring Tora over to Alba Cavanich and begin helping, I'll wait for Perun." Morag ordered.

Poppi nodded, jumping off the titan and activating two jets that came out of her back. Perun returned gripping her now burnt hand.

"Apart from the pilot and us, everyone's off."

An explosion caught their attention as a fireball engulfed the corridor behind them. Perun grabbed Morag as the blast hit them, throwing them off the ship. Herald flew after them and grabbed them in her mech arms. Perun looked at the detonating ship.

"T-the pilot-" she whispered.

"The captain goes down with his ship, only leaving if everyone else is off. He did his duty bravely." Morag said "Herald, quickly, to the capital!"

Herald turned and sped off, following Poppi and Tora.

Herald dropped them off in the main square as another explosion ripped a building apart. Morag instantly climbed a pile of boxes.

"Citizens of Mor Ardain! Please try to keep a sense calm about you! We have enough titan ships for the entire population! Please make way for any injury people to be evacuated first! The emergency stairways to the lower levels has been opened, make your way to the entrance!" Morag ordered, yelling into the chaos.

Several people turned to her and sighed in relief seeing the inquisitor, attempting to follow her orders. As she climbed down, a Gormotti woman ran up to her, hysterically.

"I-Inquisitor! M-My son, he had gone to the e-ether mine to visit his father when this started! I-I don't know i-if they're safe! Please! Y-You have to-" Morag raised a hand.

"Be calm, I will go with my Blades and companions to see if anyone is trapped there, please follow the evacuation notice." Morag stated calmly.

"T-Thank you!" she yelled hugging her before running off.  
Morag looked around and spotted Tora cutting up a door with his laser saber as Poppi handed someone to a soldier. Then her blood ran cold as she saw it was Niall. She ran over to them, followed by Herald and Perun.

"Majasty!"

Emperor Niall opened his eyes slightly.  
"S-Sorry sister, I...was catch by falling debris, I...may need a bit of...help." he chuckled weakly.

"Get His Majesty to his private ship and get him a doctor!" she order.

"Umm, Senator Roderich already...stole it, to escape…" the soldier answered hesitantly.

"Then get him to the lower levels! Just get him out of here!"

The soldier bowed before turning and running towards the city entrance. Morag looked over her four companions.

"We need to get to the ether mine. There may be trapped workers as well as one of their sons."

Perun's eyes narrowed.

"What!? We need to go now!"

"Tora argees! Need to save workers and littlepon."

The group all begin running towards the mine.

* * *

As they exited Alba Cavanich, a large crack formed to their left, a jet of steam escaping.

 _Mor Ardian cannot hold much longer, damn you Amalthus, if you hadn't been so obsessed with your 'divine duty', this wouldn't be happening. Rex, you better find Elysium and stop Malos. The Empire may need it. And you better be using Brighid properly. I never got a chance to show you how to use her weapon correctly, that's something for later._ Morag thought.

Soon, the five reached the pit as an earthquake shook the metal walkway. Perun ran over to the edge and saw a Gormotti man cowering on a lower level holding a young boy.

"Hold on! We're coming!" she yelled vaulting over the rail.

Perun grabbed the lower side of the walkway and swung herself off it, grabbing the wall. She began to slide down it as another steam fissure erupted. Several Skeeters flew out from a nearby pipe.

"Herald, assist Perun in rescuing those two, Poppi, search the pipes for anyone else. Myself and Tora will check the thermal plant." Morag ordered.

Poppi glanced over to Tora who nodded. She jumped into the pit as Herald flew after Perun. Morag and Tora ran past the mine.

Perun landed next to the two as the skeeters began to fly at them. Closing her eyes, Perun summoned an ice rimmed lance and slashed at one, cutting it in half. The four remaining one's turned to her and rapidly descended on her. She dodged one of their biting mandibles and stabbed it, pinning it to the ground, an icicle bursting up from its body. Still holding her lance, Perun spun around to the icicle, kicking and shattering it. She swung with her lance, sending a chuck of ice at another, the impact flinging it into the bubbling ether below. Before she could attack another, several red energy blasts hit and disintegrated the remaining two, Herald floating into view.

"Take these two out of here! I'll be fine." Perun said dodging an ether geyser shooting up from beneath her.

Herald nodded, grabbing the father and son and flying up. Poppi landed beside her, now in her alpha form.

"No more people in pipes. Ether mine empty."

Perun nodded as another explosion from made them glance up. Perun and Poppi went wide eyed as Morag and Tora was flung over the edge of the mine.

* * *

Morag grabbed the metal walkway and winced as the burning metal scorched her gloved hand. She reached out the grabbed Tora's right wing.

"Meh meh! T-This not good!"

Morag looked down to see her visored hat fall into the ether, the hat fading away below the surface. She inhaled sharply before throwing Tora with all her might towards the side of the pit. Before he flew too far, Poppi jetted by and grabbed him, landing on the side. The walkway began to bend, warping from the heat as a sudden jerk made Morag loss her grip. Perun gasped.

"Morag! Hold on!"

With a flick of her spear, she created an icy path that she ran up, jumping off at the tip. She formed an ice step and jumped again, grabbing Morag out of the air and landing on the lowest platform. Unfortunately, the impact of the landing dislodged the metal rods holding up the platform, causing them to fall into the ether. Herald sped after them, diving deep into the pool. Tora looked at Poppi.

"Poppi, humans and Blades react very bad when splooshed with pure ether. Swimming probably worse! As artificial Blade, it not effect you as bad. Please help friends for Tora!" he explained.

Poppi looked at Tora before hugging him.

"Masterpon should run to port. Poppi will save friends and follow. Poppi won't know what to do if her Masterpon got hurt." Poppi gave a sad smile.

Tora handed her her qtπ forms saber.

"In case you need it."

Poppi transformed into her qtπ form and dove into the ether mine. Tora glanced over the side one more time before another steam vent forming made him back off, running back to the city to see if he could help.

* * *

Morag's whole body stung, the purple liquid chemically burning her skin. She struggled to open her eyes and saw a haze of purple. She looked and saw Purun grabbing onto her, the Blade gritting her teeth as her core crystal and blue marking on her skin glew blinding before dimming to barely the level of candle light. Morag could see another form fast approaching. She saw it was Herald, but she looked like she was struggling and gripping her chest.

 _The ether! If we don't get out of this, it could overload their crystals!_

Morag frantically looked around, spotting a swirling vortex deeper.

 _Probably a hole in Mor Ardian's side, but being thrown into the cloud sea is better than drowning and burning._ Morag thought.

Before she could start to try and swim, Poppi swam into view, her orange artificial core fluctuating at a lower pace. Morag pointed to the vortex and Poppi swam up to Herald, grabbing the mech's arm and jetting down, a trail of fire behind her. She grabbing Morag and sped into the whirlpool. The spinning and shifting mixed with lack of oxygen making her loss consciousness.

* * *

 **Atlus dust research center.**

General Ironwood looked over the large vat of dust, massive stirrers slowing mixing its contents. He looked to the side, a short man grinning at the vat.

"Are you sure this is how to make this…" he looked a piece of paper "warp dust Professor Nightingale? This seems very...unscientific." he asked.

"And dangerous. You're not meant to mix more then three types of dust at once, there are eight in there. This mix is very volatile" Specialist Winter Schnee warned.

"Of course General, this is how I made it in my laboratory. It should allow those trained in dust use to warp small to large distances depending on the amount. I've just scaled up the amounts used." Professor Nightingale reassured.

"You do know dust's volatility scales with volume, right?" Winter asked.

"It will be fine."

As the vat's contents continued to mix, the dust slowly began to change to a ghostly purple colour, before suddenly darkening.

"I don't like the look of that…" Ironwood glanced over the paper he was holding "What dust is in this again? It's not on my memo."

"Gravity, lightning, air, burn, time-" Winter grabbed his shoulder.

"You're mixing gravity and time dust?!"

"Yes, together they can distort space itself and the other six us their stored energy to blast you to the point you wish to teleport to." Nightingale explained.

"Or they could literally tear a hole in reality and cause an explosion that would vaporise this facility!" Winter yelled.

"What?!"

"An incident a few years back involving the White Fang showed my father the uncontrollable danger of the mixture. A stockpile of gravity and time dust got mixed together after a failed robbery. Gravity dust, in dust or crystal state while not in use increases the gravity of its immediate area. Time dust effects an object or person's place in time, speeding or slowing it. The time dust reacted with the gravity dust, causing an unusually case of time gaining a **mass!** It began to locally break physics! The 'heavy time' tore a hole in reality for a second, before snapping shut and causing a massive explosion! And you are supplying it with a large about of energy in the form of several other dust types!" Winter explained rapidly, the dust vat beginning to distort.

"Oh...well crap, that didn't happen to me."

"Stop arguing and get down!" Ironwood ordered.

Winter, Ironwood and Professor Nightingale all jumped to the floor as an ear piercing explosion happened, a shockwave sending them flying into the wall behind them. What sounded like a vacuum filling with air filled the room before everything went quiet. Ironwood staggered to his feet as the two other struggled to get up, a glowing barrier around them flickering before fading away. He looked at the professor.

"You are in deep trouble Lyon."

Ironwood looked over to where the vat was and a group of four people laying where the vat had been. He ran out of the control room and down the now heat warped stairs.

* * *

Morag slowly opened her eyes, and lifted herself up. She glanced around. She appeared to be in some factory, judging by the large vats to her sides. She looked at her uniform. Apart from a few patches of purple ether stains, they were fine.

 _How odd, I expected to be soaked._

She looked over and saw Puren, Herald and Poppi lying around her. Before she could check on them, she spotted someone running over to her, climbing up to her. As he reached her she saw they looked like a middle aged Ardainian in a white military suit, not unlike Grand Marshal Robalt's outfit. He had black hair that looked like it was greying. He offered her his hand.

"Are you four alright?" he asked as she took it.

Morag noticed the gloved hand felt harder then skin, with a slight chill to it, akin to Poppi's alpha and QT form.

"I appear to be in good health thank you." Morag said as she spotted her visored hat and quickly donned it.

The man's face shifted slightly to one of confusion.

"That's an, um, unusually accent."

"Hmm, I could say the same to you, you sound like a Blade." Morag looked around again "Where are we? Why hasn't this place been evacuated?" she asked.

"Well, the expl-...wait, why would you think this base should have been cleared?" he asked.

"Because Mor Ardian is collapsing, unless this is on another titan, and if so, which?"

"What? Titan? Are you sure you're okay? The four of you appeared where an experiment dust mixture was. Perhaps you the dust teleported you from another continent."

"Dust, teleport? What are you on about. I don't have time for this. Where am I!" Morag order, growing frustrated with the man's confusing answers.

"Who are you to give me orders! You're the one's who appeared in this secure base out of nowhere." he yelled back.

"I am special inquisitor Morag of the Ardainian Empire, servant of his majesty Emperor Niall. Our home titan of Mor Ardian is collapsing and I need to return to ensure my people's safety!" Morag yelled.

"Well, I am General Ironwood of the Atlus military. I can tell you something for certain 'special inquisitor', there isn't no Ardainian Empire I know of on Remnant, so I have no idea of what you're talking about.

"Friend Morag, Poppi does not detect lie from Ironman." Poppi said lifting herself into a sitting position.

"Ironwood, not Ironman." he corrected.

"Poppi detects that body is made of 60% steel and titanium. Ironman more logical name."

"What?! H-How did you know that?" Ironwood asked frantically.

"Morag, I believe we should ask more questions before continuing." Herald said floating into the air as Perun jumped to her feet.

Ironwood took a step back seeing Herald, surprised.

"Indeed, it appears there is something we're missing." Morag sighed.

"What the..., who the hell did that dust bring here?" Ironwood whispered.

* * *

AN: Hi there, this is unexpected. I know I'm in currently writing a fire emblem story, but I've been playing a lot of Xenoblade 2 and couldn't resist making this. The story will be updated infrequently, as in when I have spare time, so sorry in advance. If you have any questions, leave a review! Or PM...or whatever, this a bit of an odd one. Another reason it may take a bit to get these out is I want long chapters like this, around 2500 to 3000 compared to my usually 1600 to 2200 words...maybe even more.  
Anyway, enjoy.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Awakening

 _Italics= character thoughts_

 **Warning: This chapter contains spoilers of chapter 8 of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Got that? Good, on with the story.**

* * *

Morag continued to stare at the shocked General before stepping forward.

"As Herald said, I believe we all require a few answers before either side can make an informed decision. Well General Ironwood? It appears that we are missing crucial details." Morag said walking up to him.

"What…? Oh, umm, sorry. Just, that woman knowing about my...body, that's a well kept secret." Ironwood whispered.

"Well, I have no reason to tell anyone, none of us do. How about in exchange for not revealing that information should we find a reason to, we can ask you a few questions. This won't be a one-sided exchange though, you may ask as few as well. After all, if this a secure base, then us being here is not really allowed." Morag stated as Perun walked up beside her.

"Yeah, I want to know why this place looked a bit like the inside of the world tree?"

Morag looked around when Perun asked that. It was true, the walls of the large room were made from a study looking metal. It didn't look as organic as the interior of the tree, but it certainly looked more advanced than anything on Mor Ardian.

"Of course, I wish to know what the hell is going on too." Ironwood turned and walked over to the ladder "Winter! Could you contact the hazardous waste department! I don't think this dust is toxic, but it's better to be safe than sorry!" Ironwood ordered to a white haired woman up in what looked like a control center.

"Of course General!" Winter replied taking out a small device that opened to a small screen.

Morag followed Ironwood down the ladder with Poppi, Herald and Perun jumping down and over to what looked like a metal sliding door. Ironwood typed in a code on a keypad before frowning.

"Great, that explosion damaged the door." He muttered.

Herald floated over to the door and grabbed the seam between the frame and door.

"Do you mind if damage comes to this?" she asked.

Ironwood shook his head as Herald effortlessly ripped the door free, rending it's frame in the process.

"Good work Herald, now, shall we?"

Ironwood stood stupefied by the feat of strength for another second before fixing his tie.

"Y-Yes, of course." "(Now I need to ask how she ripped a reinforced bulkhead out of it's frame so easily, a Paladin would have trouble doing that)" he breathed as he walked out, so quietly that Poppi barely caught it.

* * *

Winter walked down from the control room hanging up her Scroll after talking to the hazmat team, Professor Nightingale following.

"Well then, now we need to wait for them to arrive."

"Why do I have to wait?" he asked.

"Because the General hasn't reprimanded you yet. You could have turned this base into a 4G, time distorted creator. You're lucky only four random people were brought here from who knows where." Winter said sternly staring the short man down.

Lyon flinched under her stern glare and walked over to a chair, sitting down. Winter sighed and walked over to a stained metal sharp. She took out a small vial and scooped some of the dust into it and sealed it.

 _I'll have this analysed later_

As she turned back to the Professor, Winter spotted a familiar ginger haired girl walking into the room.

"Salutations Specialist Schnee!" she greeted with a smile and a solute.

"Hello Penny, might I ask why you're here?" Winter asked walking over "As you can see, there was an accident and I would like to keep this area clear."

"Well, myself and my father arrived ten minutes ago and the whole place shook, so I rushed to see if the base was under attack. My father is probably going to meet with General Ironwood." Penny explained.

"I would have thought he'd keep a better eye on you after the last time you wandered off. But, while you are here, could you move the largest of metal scrap over to the side of the room, I need to contact the hazmat team again, they should be here already." Winter trailed off at the end, taking out her Scroll.

Penny nodded and walked over a large piece of the former vat and leaned forward, a hatch in her back opening. The hilts of four sword shot out of her back, the blades unfurling from the handles. They came to a stop above her head, held up by carbon fiber razor wire. She assumed an almost puppeteer-esk stance and gestured forward, the swords embedding themselves in the metal. She pulled back, the metal effortlessly being lifted into the air before being thrown to the side of the room. As Penny was about to do it to another piece, a glimmer caught her eye. Looking over at it, it appeared to be an octahedronal crystal of dust, but as she walked over to it, she saw odd line patterns in it. It was also opaque, a rarity among dust types. Penny picked it up and turned to Winter.

"Specialist Schnee! What type of dust is this?!" Penny yelled, waving the crystal in the air.

Winter looked over to her and cocked her head at the question.

 _There shouldn't be any crystal state dust here._ She thought as the crystal began to glow.

"Hmm, what's happening?" Penny asked as it began to glow brighter, waves of energy beginning to flow out of it.

"Penny! Get rid of that now!" Winter ordered.

"I-I can't let go of it!" Penny yelled, terror spreading across her face as the light grew blinding.

She then felt the crystal leave her hand, shooting into her before just as quickly leaving, the light fading. Penny turned to see an orb of light touch the ground, it expanding and changing shape into what looked like a stasis pod from from a sci-fi show. The word 'Vector' was printed on it's side. Winter ran over to Penny as several bolts shot up and the hatch opened, a single hand grabbing the side of the pod.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

Ironwood lead the group down several narrow corridor, soldiers in blue and white body armour running around them. They didn't seem to mind Morag, but many men stopped at the sight of Poppi and Perun, and most backed away at the sight of Herald at the back. He stopped at a large double door and pushed them open, leading them into a plain looking room with a white table and chairs with only a single window and an odd screen against a wall. Poppi noticed a machine hanging from the roof. A thud made Morag turn to the sight of Herald struggling to enter the room.

"I may be a little too...big." she sighed as she tried to force her mech's shoulders in.

"Poppi have solution."

Grabbing her scarf, Poppi changed into her qt form and walked over to the frame. Several lockpicking tools extending from fingers as she dismantled the door frame, the frameless hole just big enough for her to squeeze in. As she reassembled the door, Morag turned to a shocked Ironwood.

"Are you going to stop surprising me or should I just resign myself?" he asked sarcastically.

"Well, just add it to the number of questions you wish to ask." Morag stated taking a seat, Perun joining her.

"Well, first things first, let's all introduce ourselves without tempers flaring." Ironwood said sitting down.

"Yes, I wish to apologise for earlier, I let my emotions rule my thoughts. I am Special Inquisitor Morag of the Ardainian Empire, servant of his Majesty, Emperor Niall."

"I am Perun, a Blade of Morag's."

"Poppi is called Poppi, world's first artificial Blade, created by Masterpon Tora!" Poppi announced turning into her alpha form and standing with her chest puffed out, smiling.

"My name is Herald, the formally sealed Blade of Tantal, and bound to Morag."

"Okay, I don't know what half that means, but as I said before, I am General James Ironwood, of the Altus Military." Ironwood leaned forward "Okay, I'll start the questions, with the first being what the hell is a blade? Three of you said that you are one, and I don't think you mean a sword or knife blade."

"Well, you are not quite that far off. Blade are being born from Core Crystals, gem like objects that are extracted from titans. When a Core Crystal is touched by the would be driver, the being to whom the blade will be bound to, they will resonate. If successful, the Core Crystal will glow and give form to a Blade." Morag pointed to Perun's chest "All Blade's will have a crystal visible on their body, most having it in the area between the neck and breast. Some may have it elsewhere, like the forehead, but that is rare." Morag explained.

"I see, so Blades are people given life be another, but what do you mean by, 'successful' when making them?" he asked.

"If you lack the aptitude to awaken a Blade, the crystal will reject you. A companion of mine, Tora, the Nopon that built Poppi, is just shy of having enough. So his rejection resulted in a heavy nosebleed. But there are stories of organ failure, coma, or even every blood vessel in your body exploding at once from rejection."

Ironwood looked horrified.

"Why would anyone risk that?"

"Simple, on Mor Ardian, the titan's soil had been stagnating. Say a farmhand is let off due to that. If he joins the military as a soldier, he'd need to go through training, most of which he may be ill suited for. It may not give him enough money to survive. There is no work, salvaging is too expensive to try, but if he can become a driver, suddenly he's four ranks high in the army, the training is less strenuous, he earns three times more money, he'd be suddenly financially sound. All he needs to do is touch that blue gem. How hard can it be?" Morag stated, Ironwood shaking his head.

"He could die though."

"Yes, he could die from rejection, or he could starve. This person would not have much of a choice. And it is something His Majesty as been trying to find a solution to. So the only choices don't both have a chance to lead to death."

"Hmm, I like the sound of your Emperor."

"Yes, he is kind...now, another question?" Morag asked.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

Winter drew her sword as a blue haired woman climbed out of the pod. She walked towards them, opening her eyes and scanning them with her almost robotic looking purple eyes

"Kosmos Obey Stategical Multiple Operation Systems, all systems online." she stated robotically, a sphere of energy surrounding her as purple hardlight armour appeared on her hips, shoulders and head.

She summoned two large, golden cannons to her hands and looked at Penny.

"Are you my new master?" the woman asked, her hardlight armour fading.

Winter pointed her sword at the woman.

"Who are you!?" she questioned.

"I am KOS-MOS, as previously stated." KOS-MOS answered.

"What does she mean by master?" Penny wondered out loud.

"Did you awaken me from my Core Crystal?" she asked.

"Umm, I touched the odd dust crystal." Penny replied.

"Then you are my Driver and master." KOS-MOS said, her weapons disappearing.

"Wait, so you came out of that that gem?" Lyon asked.

"Indeed, master awakened me from that Core Crystal. I am her Blade to command.

"So a person came from that dust? Amazing!"

"Correction, Core Crystal, not 'dust'." KOS-MOS corrected, staring at Lyon.

"Well then, I believe we should report this to General Ironwood...as soon as the hazmat team arrive." Winter said taking out her Scroll again.

"Well, I'll continue moving the vat parts." as Penny walked over, KOS-MOS stepped in front of her.

"Allow me master."

With easy, KOS-MOS picked up the warped metal, and threw it over to the other one. As Penny ran up to, mystified by her strength, Lyon spotted another gem. He walked over and picked it up as Winter glanced over.

"Professor! Put that down! We don't need another random person!" she ordered as yellow energy began to flow out of it.

"W-Wha...what's happening?!" he cried, pain spreading through his body.

"Rejection." KOS-MOS whispered.

Lyon felt his body suddenly begin to burn before the light faded and his eyes rolled back in his head, a blue liquid erupting from his mouth. Winter ran over and felt for a pulse...and found none. She stood up as several people in yellow suits walked into the room.

"Specialist Schnee! What happened?" one asked.

"I don't know, but first, hand me a waste bag." she ordered.

One of the hazmat team handed her a yellow bag with a biohazard symbol on it. She kicked the Core Crystal into it.

"Penny, KOS-MOS, lift up all of this metal, I am not leaving any of these things here."

Penny nodded and began lifting the metal pieces, KOS-MOS following. They found only one more.

"Okay, contact the bases physician to remove Professor Nightingale and clean up this mess. Penny, we are reporting to the General about your new...'friend'." Winter ordered, leaving the room, Penny and KOS-MOS running after.

* * *

Ironwood looked over at Poppi.

"Okay, so Blades come from so called Core Crystals, what does Poppi mean though by 'artificial blade'? And why can she go from an adult in despite need for clothes to a child to a...maid."

"Poppi mean what it sound like. Masterpon cannot be driver, neither could Dadapon or Grampypon, so Tatizo and Soosoo design artificial blade instead. After Grampypon's murder and Muimui stealing sister Lila, Masterpon improve sister's blueprint and build Poppi. Qt form unlocked after Lila powered up ether furnace and qtπ form work of Dadapon and Masterpon." Poppi explained.

"So you're an android that copies a Blade's abilities...I see. But why the maid?"

"I believe Zeke said something along the lines of 'it's probably a hereditary perversion'." Perun whispered.

"And I told him that that isn't a real thing." Morag added.

"Poppi wish to ask question!" Poppi announced.

"Okay, fire away."

Before she could talk though, someone knocked on the door.

"Yes?"

The door opened and Winter stuck her head in.

"General, we have an issue."

"Oh great, what now."

"Well, as I was waiting for the hazmat team, Miss Polendia arrived, wishing to of some help. And as she moved some metal, she found an odd gem and...well…" Morag stood up.

"What kind of gem?"

Winter held out a yellow biohazard bag, which Morag took.

"Core Crystals...wait…" Morag began feeling round her belt "Damn it! Those three crystals are gone! Where is the third one?!"

Winter opened the other door and exposed a ginger teenager in a grey blouse. Behind her was a tall woman in a metal bodysuit, but Morag's eyes settled on the blue crystal in her chest.

"Well then, we may have an issue."

* * *

AN: Well then, chapter two, hope people like it. I had fun writing this part, especially the blade part. Also, am I the only one who thinks Herald would get stuck everywhere, I'm pretty sure she phases through a lot of doors in Xenoblade 2.  
Another thing, pretty sure people may be mad about Penny getting lucky, but...well, KOS-MOS was not my last rare blade, like, by a long shot...that was Newt. Screw Newt.  
Also, fixed a few things in the first chapter, like an an instead of am...or me repeating hat.  
So yeah, review, PM or whatever you wish, bye.  
Anyway, enjoy.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Power of a blade

 _Italics= character thoughts_

 **Warning: This chapter contains spoilers of chapter 10 of Xenoblade chronicles 2! Got that? Good.**

* * *

"Who are you?" Ironwood asked, looking over the tall blue haired woman.

"I am KOS-MOS."

"Well General, now you have another problem." Herald said looking over at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked, worried.

"This woman is a Blade." Morag turned back to Ironwood "And I'm guessing she is bound to this teenager."

Ironwood's face dropped.

"What!? She's...you mean Penny touched a core...she could have died!?"

"Yes, but she had the potential to be a driver, so she's fine."

"Lyon isn't though…" Winter whispered.

"What?" Ironwood stood up.

"Professor Nightingale grabbed one of the gems too, and coughed up blue liquid and died."

"Fantastic, just brilliant, can anything else go wrong! A research vat exploded, some weird people from what little I gather may be from another dimension show up, Penny has a blade/person thing, Lyon's dead." Ironwood yelled, slamming his fist on the table, losing his cool.

"General, compose yourself!" Winter shouted, earning a look from everyone in the room.

Ironwood stared at Winter and everyone in the room before sighing.

"Okay, okay, plan. Winter, find Doctor Polendina and distract him, delay him, just keep him away from here. Morag, I need you to answer a few question more about blades, Penny, sit down, stay quiet and listen until we fix this. Okay?" he asked the room.

Everyone nodded, Morag, Penny and KOS-MOS sitting down. Winter backed out of the room.

"Okay, first off, can we just take the blade away from Penny to fix this?"

"You can attempt to." KOS-MOS threatened.

"No, separating them will be just that. A Blade is bound to their driver, distance wouldn't sever that. The main problem is that KOS-MOS is a 'rare blade', similar to Perun and Herald. There exist Blades that most call 'common Blades', as insulting to the blades as it is. They share a similar body types and voices, only their names being unique. Their connection is weaker to the driver, so they can be 'released', but doing so damages their core. Rare Blades, those that have a unique look, share a deeper bond, one that can only be broken in two ways." Morag leaned onto the table, fingers knitted "Use an Overdrive protocol to transfer them to a new driver...or kill the driver, forcing them back into their Core Crystal." she explained.

"What? We are not killing Penny! Use that Overdrive thing."

"I agree with not killing her, I would never dream of doing that-"

"What about time you try to kill Rex, Nia and Masterpon?" Poppi interrupted.

"Capture, not kill. Anyway, I don't have an Overdrive protocol, Sheba took it and sold it for a tea party." Morag growled, still irritated over Zeke letting her do that with that 'useless tech junk'.

"So, KOS-MOS is stuck on me?" Penny asked.

"Do you not want me master?" she asked, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"What! N-No! Sorry, I-I'm just, confused and worried about what my father will say." Penny explained, backpedaling.

"So Penny is stuck with her until she dies...okay, I'll need to figure that mess out soon, but right now, Poppi, you had a question earlier?" Ironwood turned to Poppi.

"Poppi want to know what odd non-ether elemental energy is in air." she asked. "Poppi cannot figure it out."

"Yeah, it feels like ether, but doesn't give that same...feeling when absorbed." Perun added.

"I noticed odd elemental particles in the air upon awakening. From a limited scan, I deduced that it is five time more reactive and ten time heavier than ether." KOS-MOS added.

"Umm, I'm guessing you're talking about dust, and, well, dust is Remnant's most used energy propellant. It's used in ammunition, vehicles, used in combat to launch energy attacks. People infuse it into clothes and some just stab themselves with it for a boost. It is our greatest weapon against the Grimm." Ironwood explained.

"You can mix it to get different types to." Penny chimed in.

"It sounds similar to ether, but…" Morag whispered.

"Master, what are Grimm. I have no knowledge of them." KOS-MOS asked.

"Grimm are creatures of darkness that have plagued humanity seen history began, and probably further back too. No soul, no leader, just nightmarish creatures drawn to negative emotions. No one know where they came from."

Poppi looked over Ironwood as he explained the Grimm and noticed that at 'no leader' and how no knew their origin, he tensed up. A small, all but invisible twitch, so minimum a human couldn't hope to see it, a reaction...a lie. She glanced over at KOS-MOS and saw she was staring at him too. She looked over. She noticed too.

 _Need to tell Morag later_ she thought.

"One final question, what are the countries here?" Morag asked.

"There are four kingd-"

"Winter, I'm not buying the crap you're saying! Where is Penny and James!" a man yelling interrupted him.

"Doctor please, the General is in an import-" the door was kicked open by a dark skinned, white haired, older looking man in a white military coat. "-ant meeting…" Winter finished.

"Don't worry, my father will be understanding *hic*" Penny hiccuped mid whisper.

* * *

 **Torigoth, Gormontt province, Alrest**

Tora ducked and dodged through the torrient of people, barely escaping the chaotic crowd. He began running towards his house.

"Meh, never find Poppi or friends in crowd. They probably go to Tora's house when able." he said to himself as he reached his home.

He walked into his kitchen/dining room/workspace as a short robotic maid cleaned the table.

"Umm, Lila, where Dadapon?" he asked.

"Masterpon Tatazo being lazy, so Lila removed him from house to make it tidy." she responded.

"Meh meh, that harsh. Anyway, have you seen Poppi?" he asked.

"No, not seen little sister since upgrade, did something happen?" Lila asked, her normally emotionless face becoming scarily serious.

"Me not know, Tora, Poppi and friends were helping on Mor Ardian when friends fall in ether pool. Poppi go in to save them. Ships too crowded, couldn't find them. Wondering if they arrive here?" Tora explained.

Lila sighed and stood up straight.

"Sorry Tora, Lila worried."

Tora walked over to a seat, but before he could sit, the whole room shook.

"What that?" Lila asked.

Tora heard panting as Tatazo ran into the room.

"T-Tora? No, no time, need to leave now!" he yelled pushing them out of the house as pulse of light caved in the roof.

The group ran up to the main road as more light pulses rained down from the sky.

"These Mythra's attacks...why-?" but a crash interrupted him.

Large ships were falling from the sky transforming into robots. One landed near to them turning to young Gormotti woman struggling to carry an old man.

"Lila! Arm cannons!" Tora ordered.

"Roger Tora."

Two large cannons with arm straps materialised on her arms, which she threw to Tora.

"Non-combat ready Masterpon should evacuate." Lila stated.

"Be safe you two...please." Tatazo begged.

"Of course Dadapon\Masterpon!" they yelled simintansly.

Tatazo ran off towards the farming sector as Tora fired several rockets the robot, it turning to him.  
"Ready Lila, got to help people and find friends!"

"Of course Tora, here comes."

* * *

 **Atlas dust research center**

The room all stared at the man that had kicked open the door.

"James! Winter has lead me in circles the last ten minutes, what the hell is happening!" Doctor Polendina yelled.

Ironwood looked behind the angry man at worried Winter. She bowed, mouthing "Sorry".

"Doctor, please calm yourself, the situation is confusing. I've lost my temper once already, we're trying to stay calm." Ironwood said.

"An explosion, Nightingale is dead, some soldiers are talking about a dark beauty and a scary dracomech, can you see why I'm not calm! Where's Penny?!"

KOS-MOS stood up and side stepped, exposing a hidden Penny.

"Penny! You're safe. Good...who are you?" he asked KOS-MOS.

He then noticed Poppi.

"And you?" he asked with much more curiosity.

"Doctor, please sit down, you are the last person in Atlas that is learning this. I'm stopping this spreading anymore."

"Why?" Morag asked.

"Because I don't want blades, all of you, core crystals, any of that stuff leaking out and into other counties. Not until we have a complete grasp on everything." Ironwood said.

"Care to explain."

"Sit down Doctor, here's what we've discussed."

* * *

Doctor Polendina stood up and walked over to KOS-MOS.

"If you are bonded to my daughter permanently, there is something I'll need to discuss with you later." he said seriously.

He turned leave, stopping at Winter.

"Give me that dust you took, I'll go through Lyon's notes." he ordered.

Winter handed him the vial.

"James, as much as I want to delay it, bring her to Vale with you tomorrow like planned, she needs to prepare for the tournament. And you." he looked at Morag "Thanks for making my life and Penny's a hundred time more difficult."

"You're welcome." she replied sarcastically.

And with that, he walked out of the room.

"Well, he took that well." Herald muttered.

"As well as a father can take being told his daughter became a driver by accident." Perun added.

Ironwood sighed.

"Well, if anyone in Atlas could figure out a solution for this, it is him." Ironwood sighed again "Now...we've each asked our questions, now we need a plan for what to do with the now five of you."

"KOS-MOS is Penny's Blade, you don't have to do much with her. Although, I would suggest getting familiar with her weapon." Morag suggested.

"What weapon?"

"Sorry, I believe something came up early before I explained. When you asked about if Blades were like weapon blades, I said that it wasn't a bad comparison, all Blade have weapons that are generated from their core." Morag stood up "Perun?" she held out her hand.

Perun stood too, placing her hand on her crystal, a similar shaped gem appearing in her hand. She handed it to Morag. With a light toss, the gem flew past Morag head and glew, the head of an ice rimmed spear forming. A handle extended down into her hand.

"Perun's weapon, a megalance. Attacker class, specialising in quick, aggro reducing attacks." Morag suddenly slashed the air in front of her, before stabbing twice and finishing with a spinning slash "I'll refrain from using Arts, this isn't the place."

The lance's iced head shattered, it's weapon head folding in on itself and the shaft shifting and shrinking until it length was barely Morag's width. She hooked it onto her lower back.

"Well then, that was unexpected." Winter gasped.

"Master, would you like your weapon?" KOS-MOS asked.

"Before there is any weapon testing, can we go where more appropriate?" Ironwood suggested.

"Good idea Ironman. Poppi will dismantle door!" Poppi announced, standing up and transforming.

Penny went wide eyed. Actually properly looking at Poppi, seeing her exposed metal body and even after turning into a maid, her mechanical legs and hands.

 _She's...like me..._ Penny thought.

* * *

 **Torigoth, Gormontt province, Alrest**

Tora dodged the large robot's fist as it attempted to grab him, retaliating with several punches with Lila arm cannons.

"Lila!" he yelled throwing her the cannons.

"Missile circus!" she announced, jetting herself into the air, a hail of missiles being launched as she spun around it, hitting multiple spot.

She threw back the cannons as she delivered a heavy downward kick, the robot's damaged legs giving way. Tora pushed the cannon's barrel into its face.

"Bad robot go bye-bye!" he yelled firing a pointblank blast, the impact taking a chunk out of its head. The robot collapsed, not moving an inch.

"Tora is decent fighter, can see why sister believes in Masterpon." Lila said with a smile.

"Tora have no time Lila praise, we need-" another robot landed a bit away from them, interrupting him.

"M-Meh meh...more? Tora was about to fight different one! Too many for Tora and Lila by selves."

As it walked towards them, a bitball struck its shoulder, staggering it momentarily.

"Good thing you won't have t- *cough, hack!*" an old looking man in a greeny/cream top and black pants began coughing mid sentence as a blond woman caught the bitball for him.

"Mabon, I've went along with your crazy missions in the past, but isn't this a little much?" she asked.

"Vess, I'm n-not *cough!* running away, not while we can help. Don't worry, I won't die yet." he reassured.

She chuckled.

"Oh, I know, I remember the troubles you caused when in worse conditions."

The robot turned to them but before it could act, a loud explosion shook the area as an artillery round blasted a hole in its chest, before several bullets were fired into the gap, damaging its core.

"Ha har! You're done!" an Ardian soldier with a tall helmet cried as a titan fire another round, destroying the core.

"Capta-eh Private Padraig, are you sure this is a good idea?" another soldier asked.

"I'm not letting these things harm anyone! Like when I captured that Tornan girl, I'll not let anyone hurt the people of Torigoth." Padraig answered "Now, Nopon, maid, driver and blade! Please lend me your power and repel these things!"

"No need to ask Tora!"

"Heh, myself and Vess will keep you safe *cough*."

The group turned to another robot marching towards them, drawn by its comrades destruction.

* * *

 **Atlas dust research center**

The group came into a large hanger, three large ships sitting in the near empty room.

"Hmm, those are quite impressive, especially for not being titan ships." Morag muttered.

"They like Monoceros." Poppi added.

Ironwood came to a stop.

"This should have enough room. I must admit, I am looking forward to seeing KOS-MOS' weapon."

KOS-MOS stepped in front of Penny and summoned one of her golden ether cannons, handing it to Penny.

"Woah, this was one of the weapons you had appeared." Penny gasped, holding the unnaturally light cannon." KOS-MOS nodded "Sensational!"

She pointed it at the wall.

"How do I…?" Penny left hand ran over the cannon, coming to a trigger on its top.

As Penny fiddled with the ether cannon, an orb of energy surrounded KOS-MOS as her hardlight armour appeared. She held out her arm as a blue stream of energy from her Core Crystal attached to Penny's chest.

"Huh? I feel...weird."

"Don't worry, that is just affinity. KOS-MOS is supplying ether energy, or, psud-ether made from this 'dust' I'm guessing, to you. It will enable you to use Arts." Morag explained.

Penny pointed her new weapon at the wall and pressed in the trigger, a bolt of energy firing. It hit the metal wall, punching a hole in it, cold air flowing in from outside.

"She just shot through reinforced steel with a single shot." Ironwood said, surprised at the power.

As Penny shot twice more, General Ironwood took out his Scroll and typed in something. One of the ships opened its back hanger and to man sized robots walked out and up to the group.

"Penny, instead of blowing holes in the wall, why not test it on these two atlesian knights. If it can harm them, it's better than standard hunter weapon. And I'm going to guess it will be."

Penny nodded and turned to the atlesian knights, but before she could act, they'd already lifted their weapons and pointed them at her. KOS-MOS ran in front of her and produced a shield of joined hexagonal energy plates, the bullets disintegrating on contact. Penny jumped out from the side of the shield and fired her ether cannon, the first shot taking the arm off one, the second shooting its head off. As she aimed at the second one, a phrase flashed in her head as she instinctively flipped a switch on the side of the cannon.

"Tech Blast!" she yelled.

A large bolt of energy humming with electricity launched out of the weapon, striking the atlesian knight in the stomach. It left a sizable hole as the electricity arched through it, causing sparks to fly out of it before falling over. After a second, Penny blinked twice.

"What was that?"

"An Art master, one of four you can use with your ether cannon." KOS-MOS stated.

Morag walked over, clapping.

"Impressive, you figured out how to use an Art without being told. Just like Rex whenever he got an new weapon." Morag saw Penny's confused face "Arts are techniques powered by the ether your Blade provides you. Each weapon has four. Some people think up techniques, other discover them in a flash of inspiration. Good job doing one so soon."

"That was fun! It felt like KOS-MOS and I were...together, like a tag team of best friends!" she yelled dropping the cannon and hugged KOS-MOS "I hope we can be best friends!" she smiled.

"Do not worry master, my primary objective is to keep you safe. I will stay with you forever."

Penny hugged harder, KOS-MOS' eye twitching.

"Master is...strong…" she strained.

"Well then, it's starting to get late, judging by the light coming from the new holes. Everything that happened with all of you delayed everything quite a bit. I hoped to make it back to the capital and sleep at home before tomorrow's trip, but looks like we'll be sleeping on the ship. Morag, Perun, Herald, Poppi, I'll show you to a room for you all. We'll decide what to do with you in the morning. Penny, KOS-MOS, I'll show you the room you two will share. Your father also wanted to speak to KOS-MOS about you know what from what he said. I'll call him on the way." Ironwood began to walk off as he finished, the group following.

* * *

AN: The fact that I accidentally called Lila Lily in the last chapter hurt me.  
Also, Novice4129 (they're writing RWBY x Xenoblade 2 stuff too, it's good) asked in the first chapter how Tora would get on without Poppi, and well, chapter ten's happening, that's how he's getting on. And yes, I constructed the dream team of Alrest, bow before their power.  
Speaking of Alrest, I will rarely, and I do mean rarely, write a bit with them and it'll never be a whole chapter.

And about the rare and common blades part, that mainly comes from the face you can't use cores after releasing blade and the mindset of 'why would you release a rare blade'. Also dust works like a poor mans ether, because...umm...there close enough in terms of uses.  
If there are any more questions, review, PM, stuff like that to ask.  
Anyway, enjoy.  
(I just realised I put anyway enjoy at the end of a chapter...that has only dawned on me this second...crap.)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four: A Blade's power

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

Ironwood lead the group onto one of the ships and through several corridors until they came to an area with far tighter hallways.

"This is the soldier's sleeping quarters and, well, as you can see they were made for, average sized people." Ironwood said with a soft chuckle looking at Herald.

"It does not matter, I'll just stay here and stand guard." Herald said lowering her mech feet to the ground.

"We have CCTV, and guards. Also there aren't any threats here."

"You can never be too careful. Especially after the arachno incident." Herald warned.

"That was because of Zeke and Pandoria bringing linka honey into their inn room despite being told to **not** bring anything sweet in due to a nearby infestation." Morag countered.

"Well, her standing guard saved them from dying didn't it?" Perun added.

"Or Pandoria could have carried him out of the room in her arms, like she was trying to do as he cried bloody murder." Morag rebuked.

"Herald also vapourise everything in room. Inn lady very not happy." Poppi said waving her arms up and down "Make Nia and Rex pay for damages due to Morag, Zeke and Masterpon not having money." she added, waving faster and stomping her feet in place.

"I said I would reimburse her once I retrieved some gold from my personal account, but she wanted the money there and then. Rex and Nia were the only ones with money on them."

As the conversation devolved into a pointless argument over nothing, Ironwood leaned over to Winter.

"I'm glad we didn't get that Zeke person they mentioned. He sounds like a nightmare." Ironwood whispered.

"He sounds like an idiot." Winter whispered back.

"He's a great fighter with a good sword arm, the greatest driver in Tantal, but he's also a bad luck magnet who despite his somewhat learned background, forgos common sense for dramatics." Perun said stepping out of the argument "It doesn't help that he also has Kasandra as a Blade."

Ironwood looked back at the group to find that Poppi had transformed into her adult form and had stolen Morag's hat.

"Poppi! Give that back! Niall gave that to me." she ordered angrily.

"Then apologise for calling Masterpon stupid."

"I didn't, I called him absent minded."

"See, you said he has no mind, so no brain, equals idiot."

Ironwood walked over and snatched away the visored hat.

"Please act your age Poppi."

"Poppi is only five months old." she replied.

"What...no, that doesn't matter. Can I show you to your room now?" he asked.

Morag took back her hat and nodded, the three of them following Ironwood. Penny ran after them with KOS-MOS, leaving Winter with Herald.

"So, what is your weapon?"

"An ether cannon, like KOS-MOS."

"I see. Can you get out of the mech suit of yours?" Winter asked.

"Although it is only loosely attached to my feet and back, this is a part of me. It would be like you taking off your arm. Doable, but most likely highly unpleasant or painful."

The two stood there in silence for a minute after that.

"Also I don't know how to walk." Herald said suddenly.

Before Winter could reply, Ironwood came back.

"Okay, Morag and co are in room 57 and Penny and KOS-MOS are in 58. Herald, when Doctor Polendina arrives, could you tell him that?" Ironwood requested.

Herald nodded as both Winter and Ironwood walked away.

* * *

Poppi sat on the lowest bed of a four high bunk bed, patting the thin mattress repeatedly as Morag sat at the lone desk in the small cramped room. Perun poked at one of four small chests.

"It's a tight squeeze in here." Perun commented as she opened the chest "You'd think soldiers would need more room for equipment."

"They probably have a locker room with more storage elsewhere. That's how it was on Mor Ardian or a titan ship." Morag face became downcast "Mor Ardian…"

"Morag, don't worry. I'm sure everyone is fine. It hadn't reached the complete breaking point yet. And Gramps said it would collapse right? Meaning that even if they didn't finish, the titan will just fall over and then, umm…" Perun stopped as she remembered the ether explosions.

"Perun, I know what you're trying to say, but until I get back and see everyone safe, nothing will dispel these worries."

"Masterpon probably on boat to home, or even already home with sister Lila and Professor Tatazo. Sister probably telling both to go do something. Maybe even upgrade Lila." Poppi muttered to herself, a sense of unease plaguing her as she patted the bed harder.

After another minute of silence, a door outside slammed shut, shaking the room. Then there was a knock on the door. Poppi jumped up and ran over before either Morag or Perun could act and opened it to sheepish Penny.

"Oh hello Poppi, emm, you're the person I wanted to talk to, actually." she said nervously, KOS-MOS nudging her forward as she backed away slightly.

"What Penny want?"

"I just wanted to ask you something unimportant *hic*" Penny hiccuped "Could we, umm, go for a walk?"

"Poppi not mind." Poppi answered walking out of the room.

"Don't get lost!" Perun shouted after Penny closed the door "What do you think Penny wants?"

"If it will affect us, Poppi will tell us. I doubt it's anything truly important." Morag answered, returning to her troubled thoughts.

The three walked past a confused Herald as Penny wandered the ship, glancing around. After a while, she turned to Poppi.

"So, Poppi, you're not a real girl...are you?" Penny asked looking over Poppi's metal hair and mechanical body.

"Friend Penny not there of that part of talk and Morag not include when talking to Penny's Dadapon, but Poppi is artificial Blade, first complete one is all of Alrest!" Poppi announced proudly "So it true Poppi not real Blade, but friends not care."

"I-I see…"

"Poppi work of three generations, Professor Soosoo make ether furnace and mode shift function. Professor Tatazo make basic blueprints for sister Lila and Masterpon improved and changed plans and make Poppi. Poppi made of dreams of Masterpon family."

"Did people ever look at you and become...scared of you, for being an android?"

"Only time metal body was problem was when sister was evil and killed and hurt soldiers. They blame Poppi. But after fight with Morag and Brighid, situation cleared up and we work with Morag to find Lila." Poppi answered as she took long strides and got in front of Penny "Why Penny ask?

"What? Oh, umm, I-I was curious *hic*" Penny stammered.

"That another hiccup. Penny is nervous. Why Penny like this?...Is Penny scared of Poppi?" Poppi's expression saddened "Like how Poppi was scared she destroy world and make like Morytha? Lost control of technology…" Poppi continued, her voice beginning to break.

"No! No, Poppi you're jumping to conclusions (like I do…)! I'm not scared of you, I...I just wanted to...ask if people didn't like you because you where a robot and I-I..." Penny stammered backing away.

"Master, you resolved yourself to talk to Poppi about this, you said yourself she'd understand." KOS-MOS said stopping her.

"No, I-I changed my mind! *hic* I-I mean I don't want *hic* t-to *hic hic*" Penny yelled, panicking.

Poppi grabbed her hand tightly. Her hand didn't compress from the force though, it acted as though it was more solid than it should have been.

"If Penny has secret, Poppi can keep it. Poppi and Mythra keep Nia's secret until she ready. Poppi promise won't tell. Even make Nopon promise ritual." Poppi held up her hand "Put hand in air and boop together! This mean Poppi never tell unless Penny said okay."

Penny looked at Poppi and slowly began to calm down.

"You promise you won't tell anyone? Really?"

"Boop and Poppi never tell!"

Penny took a deep and high fived the waiting Poppi.

"The thing my father talked to KOS-MOS about and w-why I wanted to ask about you being mechanical is…" Penny swallowed and leant down.

She ran her finger over and around her wrist as a soft glow came from it. Her skin detached from itself and she pulled it off her hand like a glove, exposing thin metal digits and a mechanical hand with thin wires embedded in it, running up her fingers.

"I'm not a real girl either…" she whispered.

Poppi looked at her confused.

"Penny is real girl."

"W-What? No, I'm not-" Poppi grabbed KOS-MOS.

"Penny is real girl because you have Blade. Poppi cannot have Blade, Blades who not flesh eaters cannot have Blades. But Penny has Blade, so Penny is real person. Very simple logic." Poppi smiled.

"She's right master. Core crystals require potential and a soul." KOS-MOS added.

"Penny is at least as alive and real as eldar arachno that have Wulfric." Poppi said, continuing to smile.

"Oh Poppi, thank you!" Penny said picking up Poppi and hugged her.

"Poppi happy Penny happy!" she yelled hugging back.

KOS-MOS looked at the two with a slight expression change.

 _Hopefully master will stop being so worried now that someone else knows_ she thought.

The group returned to their room, but KOS-MOS waited and listened into the room through the door.

"So, what did Penny wish to talk about?" she heard Morag ask.

"She just want to ask about want Poppi is." Poppi replied.

KOS-MOS nodded before going into Penny's room.

* * *

 **The next morning**

A low booming rumble shook Morag awake. She jumped out of her bunk and ran out of the room, ignoring the fact her outfit was now dishevel as well as stained. She jumped over Herald who followed after her. Luckily, she remembered enough of the path they took to reach the ship's hold. They ran out into the hanger and saw Penny and KOS-MOS standing in front of a large hole.

"Penny, KOS-MOS! What happened?!" she asked concerned.

"Oh, umm, I wanted to make sure I'd be combat-ready with KOS-MOS' weapon, so I tried to do another Art and...blew a hole in the wall...again."

"Master's Arts appear to be quite powerful. Anti-machine and now an AOE blowdown." KOS-MOS said.

"I doubt the General will appreciate another hole." Morag commented as Penny giggled nervously.

As Morag began lecturing her on the basics of restraint, Herald saw a single black claw grip the freshly made hole. A large werewolf-esk monster with white bone armour walked into the base, it's red eyes burning with a seething hate.

"What on Alrest is that?" Herald asked concerned.

Penny turned and backed away slightly.

"Oh no, a beowolf!" Morag raised an eyebrow. "A Grimm!" she yelled as two more walked it, more bone armour then the first.

"So these are the Grimm? Hmm, they certainly have an air of malice about them." Morag said walking towards them "Herald!"

Herald summoned her ether cannon and threw it to Morag who aimed it at the creatures as Perun ran up to them.

"Perun, alert the soldiers, this hole must be sealed. Penny, you wished to test out KOS-MOS' weapon? Well then, live combat should be good practice."

Perun ran off towards the ships as the beowolves looked over Penny and Morag. The less armoured one gave a loud howl and charged Morag, who aimed her ether cannon at it. She fired three blasts, the first hitting its right arm, the next it's left leg. It stumbled back as the last impacted its chest, the bone armour cracking. Morag aimed the cannon at its head.

"Touch me not!" she yelled, firing a larger shot, the bolt hitting its head and exploding, taking the beowolf's head off.

"Hmm, these creatures are not as durable as I thought they would be."

Penny aimed at one of the armoured ones, the beast charging at her as she did. She missed the first two shots, the third hitting it's unarmoured foot, causing it to stumble. Penny frowned as the beowolf stood up, a hatch opening on her back and two swords launching out. She directed them with one hand, slashing the grimm's chest before impaling it's legs and pinning it in place. She aimed at it again.

"There, now I can aim." she said smiling and firing on it, the blasts ripping off bone plate.

The final grimm roared and ran at Penny and as Morag aimed, Poppi flew into view, punching it in the face in her qt form. She continued to pummel it with punches, the grimm staggering back as it's armour cracked.

"Stattershot!" she yelled as she blasted it away.

Morag looked back over as Penny pointed her cannon at it's chest.

"Fading nightmare!" she yelled, firing a volley of pure light shots.

It pierced through the beowolf, forcing Poppi to dodge as it hit her enemy too. Both began to claw at the wounds as light spread out slightly from them, melting their pitch black hide as they fell, their bodies fading away into a shadowy mist.

"I think that was number three for Arts." Penny smiled as another claw grabbed the hole.

This creature though had to force its way in, the bear-like grimm almost too large to fit. It appeared more bone then creature.

"Well now, this may be a problem. Penny, I believe a lesson in blade combos is in order."

"What are those?" she asked.

"They are combos caused by chaining Blade Arts, give KOS-MOS your weapon." Morag ordered as the beast began to lumber towards them.

Penny handed KOS-MOS her ether cannon, which quickly dissolved into light. KOS-MOS' visor slide down and covered her eyes.

"Energy reserves at 50%, activating Hilbert effect." she stated.

KOS-MOS released a pulse of energy that pushed the grimm back, the light clinging to it and worming its way under its defenses to the bear's fur. A weak aura surrounded the grimm. KOS-MOS summoned back the cannon and threw it back to Penny as her visor flicked back up.

"Herald, if you would."

Morag threw her weapon at Herald, who caught it and held it in front of her, the cannon's barrel extending. After a second, she fired a single electric blast that exploded with enough force to launch it back into the wall. The electricity that danced around it fused with the faint aura and formed a blue bubble. It popped with a deafening bang that shredded the grimm's chest armour, exposing fur.

"Wow, it destroyed an Ursa this old's chestplate?!" Penny asked, shocked.

"We are not done yet. Poppi, finish it."

Poppi nodded and flew into the air, aiming her arm cannons sideways.

"Noponic destruction!" she yelled firing a hail of missiles.

They exploded on the Ursa's back and all around it, before another bubble began to form. As it engulfed the grimm, it began to look like the sun.

"Bad monster done for, second sun!"

The molten ball exploded, tearing most of the creature's armour off and bathing it in flames. It growled in agony as the flames consumed it, vainly clawing at the air and ground as it burned. After struggling another few seconds, it collapsed, fading away. Morag sighed as several soldier ran onto the former battlefield, guns ready and scanning for threats. Perun ran up to her.

"Are you all right?" she asked as two men with a large metal sheet began welding it to the hole.

"Yes, as dire as Penny made it seem, there was only four grimm, and they died without much trouble." Morag explained.

Heavy stomping drew their attention to a tired Ironwood.

"Please tell me there's a good reason?" he asked, nearly shouting.

"Sorry General, I wanted to test more Arts, but blew up the wall with Blowback pulse." Penny apologised, twisting her right boot into the metal floor, looking down.

"Uhh, right, okay, no one hurt?" No response "Good, we might as well start now. All of you, follow me, and someone get me a coffee." he ordered walking away, the group following.

* * *

Ironwood lead them to a room on one of the ships, the doors even big enough for Herald. On the table inside were two military uniforms, similar in style to Winter's.

"Doctor Polendia is currently trying to decipher Nightingale's notes on that warp dust, but suppository it is a…" he looked at his scroll "a jumbled pile of shhhhh...you get the idea. I'm due in Vale by this evening and I'm not leaving the four of you here. Penny was already going back to Vale with an **escort** but now the doctor wants KOS-MOS to go too. So, the four of you are coming to Vale. I'm meeting with the headmaster of Beacon academy as well and, he may, may have an idea about how to fix this. I doubt it, but he knows a lot." Ironwood explained.

"How would this headmaster know anything about this situation?" Morag asked.

"Ozpin knows and is prevvy to a large amount of...interesting information."

"Now I'm suspicious." Perun whispered.

"No, Ozpin is one of the few people I'd trust telling this about. He's a knack of secrets."

"That isn't a positive trait."

"Anyway, these uniforms are for you and Poppi. Although your uniform would normally be fine i'm guessing, it could do with a wash." Morag glanced down and grimaced at her stained, messy uniform "And Poppi needs clothes that cover her joints." he finished.

"Qtπ outfit made by sister Lila, don't want new clothes." she retorted folding her arms.

"Listen, I don't want people seeing you're an android. I doubt people would like the idea of an artificial person that looks human running around." he warned, Penny's expression saddening slightly "You need to stay in that form and wear these clothes, at least in public." he patted the uniform.

"Will we have to change too?" Herald asked.

"No, both of you look human enough, Perun is a bit...risque, but it should be fine. I'll said that Herald is just wearing a prototype of a personal armour developed recently."

"Meh, okay Ironman, Morag, let's go." Poppi grabbed the uniforms and dragged Morag away, Perun and Herald running after.

Ironwood turned to Penny.

"And you are staying on the ship until I'm done with Ozpin, then you can wander Vale with two guards. KOS-MOS stays on the ship though."

"B-But Gener-" "No excuses Penny, I can't risk you running into that Ruby girl again, or her team, you cannot speak to them. What if they had figured out about you. The world isn't ready for you, that's why I'm trying to hide Poppi too. So no unsupervised wandering." he ordered, walking away.

Penny was left alone with KOS-MOS.

"Master, are you alright?" she asked softly.

"Ruby would understand...right? S-She's my friend, I-I…" Penny muttered, gripping her arms "She wouldn't be scared of me, she'd understand, she'd understand." she added, almost begging herself to confirm it.

KOS-MOS kneeled down to her.

"Poppi did, Ruby would, she's my f-friend, she would, she has to, s-she h-has t-t-to." she continued to beg, trembling.

KOS-MOS held onto her, keeping Penny standing.

"If she is you friend master, although statistically only a 60% chance, possibly lower due to missing information, I know she will understand if you do to tell her." KOS-MOS comforted.

* * *

Morag walked out of the room they had stayed in, followed by Poppi. Now that she was wearing it, she noticed the uniform was identical to Winter's, apart from the blue corset top being an almost black navy colour. Poppi's was a dark crimson. She had also scraped her steel shoulder guard on and was wearing her greaves instead of the provide high boots. She donned her visored hat.

"Well then, we do more look the part now, don't you think?" she asked Perun.

Her response was to take her hat.

"This doesn't fit an overall white outfit." he commented.

Morag only scowled as Poppi pulled at her small cravat, almost undoing it.

"Winter cosplay too tight, Poppi prefer bodysuit."

Morag fixed her cravat as Ironwood arrived with a soldier.

"He's here for your clothes, they should be ready in at most two days."

Morag nodded and handed him her soiled clothes, the man marching off.

"We've taking off in a few minutes, I'll come get you when we land." he said walking off.

He repeated it to Herald as he walked by.

* * *

AN: I've made Poppi and Penny sad and I apologises...  
Anyway, so sorry about this taking awhile, I was away last weekend and also was busy before and during week. I've plans of next time, already started it, hopefully won't take a while, but well, exams are in a month.

I've not much else to say, so if you have any questions, review or PM me, I don't mind.  
Anyway, enjoy.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five: Welcome to beacon

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

 **That evening**

Atop a large tower in the center of Beacon academy, a blond woman and white haired man looked down on three large ships landing, completely filling the landing pads of the school, one of the ship even having to intrude on the schools outer plaza. The woman scowled at the unsightly ships.

"Ironwood certainly loves to bring his work wherever he travels." she strained.

"He is a busy man Glynda, he runs both an academy and practically runs the military too." a set of jets flew by the window "I will admit, they are a bit of an eye sore though." he finished as his ears rang.

A screen lit up on his desk.

"I'll be there in a few minutes and Ozpin, I have a guest?" Ozpin read.

"Hmm? What does he mean?" Glynda asked.

"I'm not sure, I guess we'll see soon."

* * *

Ironwood walked out of the ship with Morag and Poppi following. Herald decided to stay on the ship and Perun wandered off to explore the ground, two soldiers secretly following her. As the three of them reached the main school building, Poppi spotted a sign pointing to a library.

"Morag, Poppi wish to go explore library. Having information on world may help." she asked.

"General?" she turned to Ironwood.

"Uhh, sure, just, try not to be suspicious. And don't talk to the students." he warned as Poppi walked away, only half listening to the second part.

The two walked through the main hall and came to a large elevator at its center. Getting it, Ironwood pressed the top button and after a second, a screen showed the word 'approved', and they began to ascend. The climb was quick, coming to a sudden stop and the door opening to an open room that looked like it was among the clouds. Morag saw a clockwork contraption, spinning slowly around in the roof. A white haired man in a black suit turned to them, along with a blond woman a white top with a high black skirt. She wore a tattered purple cape.

"Ozpin!"

"Ahh, General, and this is that guest you mentioned I presume?" Ozpin asked looking over Morag.

"Please, drop the formality, and yes, this Inquisitor Morag. I've a bit of story to tell you." Ironwood said taking Ozpin's hand.

"Greetings. You are the headmaster the General spoke of I'm guessing. Ozpin, was it?" Morag bowed slightly.

"Yes, I am Professor Ozpin."

The woman walked over.

"Glynda! It's been too long." Ironwood held out a hand.

"I'll be outside." she whispered walking past him.

"It appears she's not a fan of you Ironwood." Morag commented.

"Yes, well, heh, she hasn't changed."

"So, James, what brings you from Atlas, I doubt your students need a military escort." Ozpin questioned as he poured hot cocoa into a cup for Ironwood.

"Would you like some?" he asked Morag.

"No thank you."

"Anyway, you know how much I like Vale this time of year, so much more, milder then Atlas, and with Vale hosting the Vytal festive, I thought we could catch up in person. But...then a situation involving Morag and her companions came up and I'd like to discuss with that you as well." Ironwood went serious as he drank.

"And does this situation warrant the transport of a large battalion of soldiers from one kingdom to another in a time of peace?" he asked.

"That is for a different reason, one you know very well why it would warrant a force this size, but, Ozpin, Morag's story cannot leave this room, seriously."

"Oh, now I'm interested." Ozpin sat down and knitted his fingers.

"Allow me to explain." Morag stated stepping forward.

* * *

Poppi entered a large hall that was filled with different shelf of books. Tables ran down its center with stairs on either side leading up to a second level. Teenagers in black school uniforms wandered around. A few glanced over before quickly looking away, almost like they were trying to avoid Poppi's attention.

 _Hmm, students maybe not like outfit. Poppi wish she could take off._ She thought pulling at her collar.

Making her way up the stairs to avoid the students, Poppi walked over to section marked 'World of Remnant'. She reached for a book with the word Dust written on it's side before she here some muttering. She sat down but before she could start, someone started yelling.

"Yang Xion Long! Prepare your kingdom for battle!" "Bring it on!" "I deploy the elyson airfleeeeet!" *Gasp* "Looks like I get to fly over your Ursa and-" several girls were yelling nonsense.

Poppi tried to ignore them but soon they began yelling louder and louder, with one starting to laugh maniacally before suddenly starting to sob.

 _They yell louder than when Mythra and Kora get into girl power fight! Masterpon and Zeke told Poppi library supposed to be quiet._

After a minute, they quieted down and Poppi opened the book.

" _Dust, by definition, is a naturally occurring energy propellant that can be triggered by the aura of humans and faunus._ _But in reality, it is much, much more._

 _Found in four basic forms, Dust can be combined both artificially and naturally to form new, stronger types, each with unique properties. Since its discovery, man has concocted a multitude of ways in which to harness these mysterious crystals._

 _From airships to androids, Dust has made its way into practically every facet of technology. Some prefer to use Dust in its raw form: elegant, yet destructive..."_

"FUN loving person who we all respect!" a sudden shout broke her focus.

Poppi stood up and pushed past two boys that were walking by, rounding the corner to look at the yelling student. The group of four sitting at the table turned and looked at her as well as the boy and girl who were standing.

"Library meant for reading, Poppi cannot read with loud shouty voices!" Poppi yelled angry "Poppi trying to learn."

"THANK you!" a boy in green yelled throwing up his arms.

"Sorry, we were kind of getting into our game." a girl in a black and red outfit apologised.

"Please excuse our poor manners." the girl in white added.

"What's with the niceties ice queen?" the yellow girl asked.

"You dolt, she's a high ranking officer of the Atlas military." the girl in white hissed.

"How can you tell?" the red one whispered.

"Her uniform, it's the same as my sister's."

"You have a sister?" the yellow asked.

As the 'ice queen' began to shout whisper at her two companions, Poppi turned and left the group, walking past the two boys again.

"Who's that?" the boy with a monkey tail asked.

His blue haired friend shrugged. Poppi picked the book back up and continued reading, the group significantly quieter.

* * *

Perun walked through the groups of the academy, coming to a building off to the side. She walked under a overhang and looked through a window, seeing multiple long tables with a few students sparsely spread out with metal trays.

 _A dining hall? You would think it would have more people at this hour._

Walking a bit further, Perun spotted a burnt orangey/brown haired boy in a black bodysuit with a steel chest plate over it. He stood towering over a shorter boy in a school uniform. Perun noticed that he a fox-like tail hanging low behind him as he cowered under the large teenager.

"Well, you finish 'our' homework?" he asked in a threatening tone.

"N-No...I've been b-busy." the boy replayed, terror in his voice.

"Foxy, we talked about this, you know what happens if you're late." he said shaking his head.

The armoured boy pulled back to deliver a punch, Perun charging forward as fast as possible when she heard him. As his fist reached the boy, Perun blocked it, the force causing her to stumbled ever so slightly. The bully looked at her with an irritated look.

"Who the hell are you?" he yelled.

Perun push his fist back, causing him to nearly fall over.

"What gives you the right to strike this boy?!" she asked back.

"He's a beast who didn't do his job, I've a right to punish him." he remarked with disdain in his voice.

Perun grit her teeth.

"Beast?! Just for having a tail you would call him a beast! Have you no morals?"

"Faunus are meant to serve, it's all they're good for."

"How dare you! No one or race is 'meant to serve'. How heartless can you be?" Perun couldn't understand his horrid reasoning.

"Heh, you want to take his beating instead?"

"I would gladly accept it if it meant he would come to no harm."

The fox boy grabbed Perun's arm.

"N-No miss! You can't, please-"

"Calm yourself, no one deserves to abused by anyone. Now, run." Perun interrupted him mid-sentence.

The boy looked concerned for a second, before turning and running away.

"Please note you scum in human flesh, even without a driver, I've enough power to teach you a lesson." Perun stated coldly summoning her lance.

"Heh, fancy trick. I've been looking for someone to give me a workout." he said taking out a large, heavy black headed mace.

"I am no pushover boy."

The bully charged swinging his mace at Perun. She used her hexagonal shield and blocked the strike, the impact's force repealed back through his mace, sending him reeling. Perun stabbed at his chest, each hit being blocked by a slight glow on his body. She dodged another swing and poked him just under the diaphragm with the butt of her lance before sweeping his legs out from under him. As the bully hit the ground, Perun swiftly kicked him in the side, sending him flying into a pillar. He staggered to his feet.

"Uhh, y-you bit-" he was cut off as Perun hurled an icicle at him, forcing him to duck.

Perun rushed him, quickly jabbing him in a flurry of blows before grabbing his collar.

"Maybe this will teach you not to bully others!" Perun cried as she threw him over her shoulder into one of the windows, the glass shattering and the bully crashing into a table.

"C-Cardin!" she heard someone yell.

Perun looked in and saw a teenager with a green mohawk run over to the knocked out bully. She sighed and turned to leave, but a hand grabbed her shoulder. It spun her around to a tall green haired, glasses wearing man.

"Greetings mysterious woman who just beat a student senseless, my name is Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck. I'd like to know why you just did that." Oobleck said rapidly, a hint of agitation behind his tone as he pointed to the broke window.

"Because I wasn't about to let him beat another student for not doing his homework." Perun answered.

"Yes, yes, I see...but still, you harmed a student of Beacon academy. So I'm afraid I must bring you to see the headmaster." he said grabbing Perun's arm and dragging her away at blinding speed.

"W-Wait!" she yelled barely able to stand as she was dragged.

Two soldier stood 20 feet away, one rubbing the back of his helmet.

"Shouldn't we have stopped that?" he asked.

"Meh, that kid deserved it." the other answered.

"You know know we're screwed when the General finds out right?"

"...Crap…"

* * *

"...and then Miss Polendia arrived with a Blade of her own." an odd noise stopped Morag's explanation as her megalance clipped to her back faded away, a dead weapon crystal falling to the floor.

"What was that?" Ozpin asked.

"It appears Perun has summoned her weapon for some reason."

"What? Why would she need her weapon?" Ironwood wondered.

"James, how dangerous are these 'Blade'? Because I'm not a big fan of, for all intensive purposes from Morag's description, a living, invincible weapon roaming my school armed."

"Don't worry Ozpin, I doubt anything bad is happening." Ironwood reassured.

A screen beeped on Ozpin's desk. He clicked a button which caused the screen to change to a camera feed. It was too far away to see clear what was happening, but it appeared to be a fight. He closed the feed.

"I don't like the look of that." he commented.

After a few awkward seconds, a light on the screen flashed.

"Yes."

"Ah yes Ozpin, I've someone here you need to talk to." a male voice said.

"Uhhhrra! Let me go!" Morag heard Perun say.

"Does the person you have with you have dark skin and icy white hair." Morag question.

"Yes unknown woman, she does."

"That's Perun…" Morag reluctantly said.

"Send her up."

After a few seconds, the elevator door opened and a green haired man pushed Perun out and the doors closed.

"Perun, what did you do?!" Morag marched over, clearly angry.

"I saved a student from being beaten by another. And in the process, threw him through a window…"

"WHAT?!"

"I couldn't stand by and let him do that!"

"I don't care what excuse you give me Perun, this is unacceptable! That student was not a monster, grimm or violent driver. He wasn't a mad scientist kidnapping children. You cannot just go around and engage in combat and harming a random teenager! There are ways of handling situations." Morag grabbed her arm "We are going to our room where I will punish you for your actions. General, finish telling the Professor about our situation." Morag ordered pulling Perun into the elevator, the doors closing.

"Well then, I'm glad to see she's strict with them." Ozpin commented.

"I'm sorry, here, let me pay for the window."

"Don't worry James, now, could you continue from where the Inquisitor left off, I'll admit, this situation is interesting. Oh, and before I forget." Ozpin pressed another button "Glynda, could you check which student was brought to the infirmary just now?"

"Of course."

After a few seconds, another click sounded.

"Cardin Winchester." she said.

"I figured as much." Ozpin sighed.

"Anyway, as she was saying…"

* * *

Morag dragged Perun all the way back to the ship, past several soldiers that looked on in confusion. Herald opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it seeing Morag's face. She finally let go of her in the cramped room.

"Perun…" Morag sighed "If I could, I would send you back to Garfont and have you perform cleaning, cooking, multiple missions, generally that kind of labour to punish you for such conduct...but that isn't an option."

Perun looked disheartened by Morag's angry.

"I understand you wish to help other, especially the weak and children, and stopping the bully from harming another student was the right thing to do, but you cannot inflict harm on the instigator. It would have been like if I had beaten Dughall to an inch of his life after everything he and Bana had done. There are channels and actions are unfortunately in many cases limited. Do you understand?" Morag finished.

Perun nodded.

"Now, for the next few days, you are not to leave this ship unless it is absolutely vital. I hope Ironwood and that Ozpin are not too annoyed by your actions."

"I'm truly sorry Morag…"

"I know you are, now, if you'll excuse me." Morag walked out of the room.

Perun sat down in the chair at the table.

 _Despite her anger, I know I did the right thing. Heh, wonder how far Godfrey would have gone?...I hope the group's okay._ Perun thought staring at the wall.

* * *

Morag came out of the ship and noticed the sun was setting fast.

 _I should find Poppi._

Morag walked over to the library and looked around.

"Certainly puts Tantal's to shame." she whispered.

Suddenly, Morag found a large number of students were all leaving at once. Morag felt something lightly brush past her as she avoided the crowd. She turned around instinctively but saw nothing. Morag continued on, wandering around to find Poppi as a dark skinned girl with pale green hair leaned against the outside wall and sighed. A grey haired boy walked over to her.

"What's wrong Emerald, scared of the Atlas specialist?" he asked.

"No, just, she wasn't affected by semblance for a few seconds...it was weird." Emerald replied "But I got one of her little bags." she held up a pouch.

Emerald opened it and saw only a single blue dust crystal.

"What?! I was expecting lien or, I don't know, secret documents. A single bit of dust, really?"

"I don't know...it looks kind of weird. What's with the lines?" the boy asked.

"No clue, oh, we have to go if we want to meet Cinder on time."

"Well, ladies first." he said slyly.

Emerald walked by him and kicked between his legs. He stumbled to his knees.

"Couldn't have...gone for...the shins…" he strained with a smie.

Emerald only smile.

"Screw you Mercury."

* * *

AN: Have you ever written something, realised it was a mess, rewrote it, messing up another part in the process? This chapter was like that.  
What didn't help was that I got the order of events in volume 2 mixed up in my head, I thought it went from the board game straight to the info seeking...which was horribly wrong. So, I kind of had to redo bits and pieces, something always a bit off. So, sorry.  
(Although it enabled me to have Cardin have the crap kicked out of him. Any story with Cardin being beaten makes me a little a happy.)

Also, that little bit at the end? That's for later...  
So, due to the problems, if you read something that's a bit off, please tell me, I'll be trying to fix this myself too. And next chapter will be the part that I was excited for. It's gonna be fun.

And finally thing. I got a review asking what the heart-to-heart between Poppi and Penny would be call in the last chapter. I read it and went "Hmm? I didn't write a heart-to-heart. I just had the two talk along with KOS-MOS and...oh...". So yeah accidentally made a heart-to-heart. Anyone have a name? Because I've been thinking it over and, well, I'm bad a naming things. Just ask Penny's arts.

Anyway, enjoy.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six: Unfettered power

 _Italics= character thoughts_

 **Warning! This chapter has a slight spoiler of XC 2 chapter 8. Got that? Good.**

* * *

 **The next morning**

Morag walked out of the ship's hanger and saw Ironwood messing with his Scroll, sitting on a bench. He was scowling.

" Is something wrong General?" she asked.

"Hmm? Yes actually. I brought a small force of new atlesian knights models to show off in Vale what will be replacing the old ones, as well as ten atlesian paladin to test out in the wilds outside the city. But, all but two knights are accounted for, which is understandable, Penny shot them, but five paladins are missing." he said, rubbing his chin.

"How dangerous are these paladins?"

"Well, from what little I saw of Herald's strength, it's just a bit weaker physically than her. But it has incredible fire power and from our stress tests, can survive human weapons and grimm attacks with easy. The fact that not just one is missing, but five? I have soldiers searching to see if they were mistakenly loaded onto a different transport or simple left behind."

"I see, could they have been stolen?"

"Impossible, the atlesian paladins are only being unveiled today. Very few people know about them."

"Hmm, I can see why that is troubling." Morag whispered.

* * *

Penny sat in the her cramped room on the lower bunk, staring at a clock on the wall. It read 12:00. She sighed.

"We've been in this room for almost a day…"

"Indeed master. The longer we stay here, the more illogical the reason for us being here becomes. I have thought myself through 7 different scenarios based on what your father and General Ironwood have told us were the reasons to say hidden away, and only 2 have any merit. One relies on you having a complete disregard for the consequences of being revealed, and the other relies on your friend Ruby learning your secret, and failing your trust. Both seem unlikely, unless seeing this Ruby proves my basic analysis of her based on your word wrong. And I doubt you are wrong master." KOS-MOS explained folding her arms.

"I wish I could just get out of here, at least for a little while. I want to explore Vale again."

"I have the ability to open locks master." KOS-MOS stated.

"Wait, really?! So you could open the door?" Penny asked standing up.

KOS-MOS nodded and walked over to the door. Her hand disappeared in a flash of light, replaced by a gun.

"Erasing."

KOS-MOS fired her arm gun, the blast vapourising both the lock and the handle. She grabbed the brunt hole and opened the door.

"Lock eliminated."

"Wha...but, you...you said you could open locks!?" Penny shout whispered.

"Indeed, a destroyed lock cannot function, so by definition, it is unlocked."

"General Ironwood will know we left if there is a hole in the door!"

"And by leaving and returning without incident, you will prove his thought process of keeping you imprisoned is not correct and by extension, necessary."

"Well, I mean...I guess?"

Penny stepped out of her room and hurried to the end of the hall, relieved that Herald had left her position. As they rounded the corner, Perun stuck her head out her door and glanced at the smoldering hole that was once a lock.

"Does this class as vital?" she questioned as she ran down the corridor and ran into Herald.

"Herald, Penny just blew a hole in her door and ran off!"

"Okay, so? Do you wish to chase them?" Herald asked.

"I mean, they shot the lock off the door, I'm a little worried."

"If you wish, then I'll follow. But we must be carefully." Herald warned.

"I know, keep to the air, now come on!" Perun yelled running ahead, Herald floating after her.

* * *

Penny disembarked the airship from Beacon as soon as it arrived at Vale. KOS-MOS looked around at the buildings.

"It appears that this city has not seen combat for many years. Most buildings are made of weak material." she commented briefly analysing her surroundings.

"The outer walls keep the Kingdoms safe from Grimm and the last war was 80 years ago. Vale probably thinks they don't need reinforcements. But from what the General told me, the peace won't last much longer."

Penny ran off down a central road, KOS-MOS following as Herald dropped Perun off behind the ship.

"Keep to the sky, I'll blend in more." she ordered.

"Not according to the Atlas soldiers." Herald whispered flying quickly over to the rooftops, avoiding any attention.

Perun ran up to a crowd and stayed at the back, watching KOS-MOS who stood taller than most in the crowd of students of varying uniforms.

KOS-MOS looked behind her, briefly spotting an icy twin tail.

 _Perun is following us, another witness to prove that between master's skill and mine, she can roam without Ironwood fearing._ KOS-MOS thought.

As Penny wandered the streets, blissfully unaware, KOS-MOS heard mutterings.

"...does she have robotic limbs?" "You'd think she'd hide them." "Her visor looks cool." "That body suit would block nothin', even if it is metal." "Mama, is that a Atus robo girl?" "Shush! Don't stare."

KOS-MOS glanced around, the talking suddenly stopping.

 _It appears I am the one drawing attention. Unexpected..._

"Oh, KOS-MOS, I know something you'd find interesting." Penny commented, pointing at a large tower piercing the sky.

"What is that building master?"

"It's the CCT, I'll explain on the way." Penny said grabbing her arm.

Along the way, Penny explained how Atlas made the CCT system and how it can be used to transfer information instantly across the world.

"As long as the main towers are functioning, all of Remnant can communicate. But if one goes down, the whole system shuts down. The internet basically dies." Penny explained as they finally reached the large plaza the tower sits in the middle of.

"Why would the government use a system with such a flaw?"

"Either everyone speaks as one, or no one speaks." Penny stated the line she'd been given after asking the same question.

As KOS-MOS looked up at the large tower, something hit her foot. Looking down, it was a Scroll, a device that everyone, even Penny had one. KOS-MOS picked it up and looked over at a black haired girl with a red hooded cape as she ran over.

"This is yours?" she asked holding it out.

"Yes, sorry, I got excited and…" the girl looked behind KOS-MOS "Penny?"

"Ehhh…" Penny backed away as KOS-MOS handed the girl her scroll.

"Penny, where have you been? You disappeared at the docks and we haven't seen you seen!" she questioned.

"N-No, umm, I think you're mista*hic*ken." Penny began to walk away, KOS-MOS following.

"Master, what's wrong?"

The girl jumped in front of her.

"Penny, where have you been? It's been weeks!"

Penny ignored her and walked past her.

"Penny is everything okay? Penny please, stop!" the girl grabbed Penny's arm.

KOS-MOS reflexively grabbed the girl and wretched her arm from Penny.

"H-Hey!"

"KOS-MOS wait, t-this is Ruby." Penny pleaded.

"Oh, this is the friend you spoke of." KOS-MOS said letting go of Ruby.

"Look Penny, I don't know what's wrong, or who she is, but please listen. Those men we fought at the docks, we think that their up to something big, possibly really bad. You need to tell me what happened that night, please, as a friend." Ruby begged.

KOS-MOS glanced around and spotted Perun, hiding behind one of the sparse trees while Penny saw to soldiers wander into the plaza.

"It is not safe to speak here master." she whispered.

"Yeah, Ruby, come over here." Penny whispered running to a side path.

* * *

Penny stopped at a cafe a block away, glancing at her scroll.

"Do not worry master, I am 90% certain you told her this location." KOS-MOS reassured.

"Why only 90%?"

"The name isn't every unique." KOS-MOS looked at the plain sign that simply said 'coffee mug'.

"It was the only one I saw on our way here."

After another minute, Ruby appeared from the side, smiling. The three of them began walking.

"I'm sorry Ruby, I don't know anything about those men we fought."

"Well, what happened to you that night? Were you kidnapped!" Ruby suddenly yelled.

"If master was kidnapped, I don't she would be here at all." KOS-MOS interjected with a blank stare.

"Also, who is she?" Ruby whispered.

"Oh, this is KOS-MOS, my friend and blaaaaaaaaodyguard*hic*" Penny stuttered hiccuping mid correction "Sorry, umm, so, that night, well, it was my first time outside of Atlas, and well, my father...you see, my father loves me very much and asked me not to go to far and, well, the docks were very far…he worries a lot" Penny explained.

"Heh, yeah, Dads…"

* * *

As they continued to talk, Perun walked on the opposite side of the road, a bit back. They stopped at the entrance to a square as a loudspeaker droned on about something. The three stopped and Perun saw Penny begin to fidget, tugging at the black haired girl. Suddenly Penny turned and ran down a side street, KOS-MOS and the girl following.

"Herald!"

Herald swooped down and threw Perun onto the roof of the building, a few confused onlookers staring. They ran along the roofs, barely keeping up with the sprinting Penny, as she rounded a corner, the girl cut down a pile of boxes, the falling boxes barely missing KOS-MOS and blocking to soldiers Perun and Herald noticed where chasing them. The girl grabbed Penny and rocketed herself and Penny down an alley, leaving KOS-MOS behind. Herald jetted after them holding Perun, catching up to them as the girl fell onto the street, a speeding vehicle barreling towards her. Penny rushed ahead and pushed her aside, Herald and Perun still too far away to help.

"MASTER!" KOS-MOS yelled.

Then everyone saw Penny stop the vehicle dead in its tracks, the ground beneath her buckling and shattering from the force. KOS-MOS ran up to her as Perun and Herald watched from the roof.

"Woah…" Herald gasped.

KOS-MOS looked over Penny's hands before grabbing her running away, Penny covering them. The girl ran after them.

"Come on, let's go." Perun said as Herald jetted them over the street.

KOS-MOS looked around as Ruby caught up to her and Penny.

"Penny! Are you alright?! How did you do that?"

"N-No, I-I fine! Everything's fine *hic*. I don't want to talk a-about it! *hic*" she yelled covering her hands.

"Master, you said Ruby wo-" "NO! I-I'm scared! You won't understand! The General was right! *hic*."

"Penny please tell what's wrong! I can help you, please you can trust me!"

"RUBY! You're my friend! Please tell me I'm your friend!" Penny yelled almost hysterical grabbing her.

"I am Penny, you can trust me."

"Ruby, I'm not a real girl…" Penny exposed her hands that now lacked skin.

On the roof looking down, Perun and Herald opened their mouths.

"Oh…" all three said.

Perun backed away from the side.

"Well, wasn't expecting that…" Perun whispered.

"So she's like a human Poppi."

"Well, judging by her reaction, she doesn't want anyone to know. So we'll keep her secret." Perun said with a nod.

"Indeed, she appears to be scared of others knowing."

"You thinks Poppi would like to know?" Perun asked.

"Possibly, but we aren't telling her."

"I know, but I bet Poppi would probably get excited and hug her or something."

"Yes, she does often get excited over both large and small things."

"...so is that why you have KOS-MOS, doesn't your father thinks you can protect yourself?" Perun and Herald turned back to Penny and the girl.

"No, it's just, my father is afraid I'm not ready yet, and...something else came up that made my father and the General unsure if I should be out." Penny glanced at KOS-MOS "In the future, it'll be my job to save the world, but I've so much to learn, but with KOS-MOS, I hope I'll be not just combat ready, but SUPER combat ready." Penny gave a weak smile "I'm going to test myself in the tournament and hopefully master KOS-MOS' weapon as well."

"Wait, save the world, but the world is at peace. And what do you mean by KO-" "Over here!" someone yelled.

"Oh no, you need to hide. Umm…" Penny looked around before KOS-MOS pointed up at Herald and Perun.

Penny's face twisted in horror at the sight of them. Perun pointed to her hand and place a finger on her lips. Penny gave a shaky sigh.

"Ruby, promise me you won't tell anyone my secret and I also need you not to freak out." Penny said pushing her over to a wall.

"Of course. And what do you mea-? YAHHH!?" Ruby suddenly yelped as KOS-MOS picked her up and chucked her at Herald.

Herald caught her and Perun quickly covered her mouth as two soldier ran into view.

"Salutations officers!" Penny greeted turning on her heels as the two soldiers ran up to her.

"Penny, what are you doing out unsupervised? And where's that other girl." One asked looking around.

"I'm not unsupervised, I have KOS-MOS. And it's just the two of us *hic*. I've just been showing KOS-MOS some things in Vale." Penny answered with a hiccup.

"You shouldn't cause a scene like that, and people were talking about the blade's odd features. (Sigh) Are you hurt?" he asked, clearly worried.

"Just a scratch." Penny showed her hands.

"Penny, your father and the General are not going to be happy about this, just, come with us."

"Of course."

As the four walked away, KOS-MOS looked up to Perun and Herald and generated a weapon crystal. With a serious glare, she pointed to her core and crushed the gem. Perun let go of Ruby.

"Did KOS-MOS threaten us?"

"Presumably to warn us against talking about Penny." Herald answered.

"We weren't going to talk."

"Ehh, excuse me?" Ruby interrupted.

"Yes?"

"Can I get down from here?"

"Of course." Herald grabbed Ruby and brought her down to ground level, Perun jumping after.

"Thanks...so, who are you two." Ruby asked.

"I am Perun."

"My name is Herald."

"Do you guys know Penny-" Ruby's scroll went off. "Oh, sorry, hel-"

"Everyone, if you can hear me-" HELP! THEY HAVE A ROBOT! Really big robot! That Torchwick guy's in it!" yelling came from her scroll.

"Oh, I'm not missing this. Sorry, gotta go!" Ruby sped off at blinding speed.

"Hey, wait!...should we check if everything is okay?" an explosion shook the area.

"Yes."

Perun jumped onto Herald's back and they jetted into the air and towards another explosion.

* * *

Morag stood looking out over Vale as Poppi walked up behind her.

"Is friend Morag okay?" Poppi asked.

"Yes, it's just...Perun is missing along with Herald, Penny and KOS-MOS. I went to check on her and found the room empty and Penny's lock destroyed. The General was not happy." Morag answered propping up her chin with her fist, holding her arm with the other.

"Ironman too strict on Penny. He meany for trapping friend in room."

"I'm certain he has his reasons Poppi."

As they stood there, a small airship with the symbol of Atlas on its side sped into view, landing nearby. Two soldiers, Penny and KOS-MOS walked out. Ironwood ran up to it, a mix of anger and worry on his face. As the two walked over, Ironwood stood in front of Penny as she walked away, almost like he was trying to block Morag's sight of her.

"General, are you alright?" Morag asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, I just need to take care of something with Penny."

"I see, well, I wish to ask her if she knows where Perun and Herald are?"

KOS-MOS broke away from Penny and walked over.

"Perun and Herald were following master and myself through the city. Most likely due to the fact that Perun saw the damaged lock on our door." she stated.

"I wouldn't define melted into slag as damaged." Ironwood commented.

"Slag is the semi-liquidated waste materials separated in metal refinement. That is not a correct use of the term." KOS-MOS corrected.

"Really, you're going to correct me on that?"

"Okay, so they're in the city. At least Perun had a reason to disobey me."

Before the conversation could continue, smoke began to rise out of the city. Poppi tugged at Morag and pointed.

"That not look good."

More smoke began to raise in a straight line, cutting through the city.

"That doesn't look good. Morag, Poppi, come with me!" Ironwood ordered.

He waved over two soldiers.

"Contact paramedics and inform as many soldiers as you can! The two of you get in the bullhead!" Ironwood ran into the ship that Penny had arrived in, the two following.

The bullhead took off towards the smoke.

* * *

As Perun and Herald flew over a 'highway' like they had seen in Morytha, two teenages jumped into view, landing on two of the small vehicles that were driving along. Suddenly, a large mech like the ones from inside the World Tree jumped onto the highway too, pushing the vehicles aside.

"What is it doing?! It's going to kill someone!" Perun yelled.

A two wheeled vehicle tried to overtake it, but the mech slowed them by throwing more vehicles into the air and behind it, forcing them to dodge. Perun looked horrified.

"Herald, stop that thing quickly! I'm going to go ensure all those people are safe!" Perun jumped off Herald and immediately began to pry doors of the machines to free the dazed drivers.

Without having to balance Perun on her back, Herald jetted forward at an extreme speed to catch up with the rampaging mech. A boy on the two wheeled machine was firing electric pulses at the mech, but it was shrugging them off. Herald summoned her ether cannon and fired at the machine too, her blasts causing slight dents in the back of it. The boy's gun shifted into a electrified lance and he jumped at the mech, but he missed due to the mech picking up more speed. Herald shot down and grabbed his leg just as he was about to faceplant the highway. He looked up.

"Woah, guessing Atlas tech." he muttered "So, could you throw me at that thing? I need to keep up my image and dangling upside down by my leg is not flattering." he added.

Ignoring all but the request, Herald effortlessly flung the teenager at the mech, the force from the throw causing his lance to pierce through the machine's armour.

Inside the mech, a man in a bowler hat and white coat jerked forward. He looked behind him to see a lance head just behind his head.

"How the hell…?" he whispered, flicking a switch, causing the other body to begin spinning rapidly.

"Whaa! SomEoNe heLp meEeEe!" the blue haired teenager yelled as he spun around.

Herald flew ahead to get in front of the charging machine as a blond boy summoned glass like copies of himself. They impacted the mech, not slowing it at all, prompting the teen to jump at it himself. The mech launched the blue boy at the blond one, both hitting each other and flying off the edge.

 _Well, they accomplished nothing._ Herald thought.

Ahead, a white haired landed on the road, the mech unwavering. She appeared to be readying an attack, but the machine was almost on top of her. Herald pulled out in front of it charged at it, grabbing its main body. As Herald pushed back at it, slowing it, the sound of rapid ice forming resonated in the area, and Herald felt the mech loss balance. Turning to the side, Herald span holding onto the mech and threw it at the side of the road, despite to remove it from the busy highway. With the machine destabilized, she easily threw it at the hardlight protective barrier, which shattered on impact. It tumbled off the side and fell several stories down, landing on its side. Herald flew after it as it stood, a group of four girls running up behind her.

"Hey, you're that mech armour woman from before. How did you catch up so fast?" Ruby asked as the four readied themselves and the machine extended stabilizer rods from its feet into the ground.

"This not the time or place for that. Please evacuate!" Herald ordered.

"No way, I'm not missin' this!" the blond girl yelled excitedly.

The mech aimed it's guns at the group but before it could fire, Ruby smiled.

"Freezerburn!"

The girl with the rapier twirled and impaled the ground, ice spreading out as the girl with the gauntlets jumped into the air, punching the iced ground and firing a round from a gun on the gauntlet. The ice shattered and evaporated, throwing a freezing mist into the air. The group of teens retreated into the mist as Herald flew into the air as the mech began to use targeting lasers to track the group. The driver seemed to be more focused on finding the girls then Herald, so Herald took her chance and fired at the lasers with her tail cannons, the blasts destroying three sets on the mechs top sensors. Losing their means of sight, the driver turned his sights to Herald in the air, giving the girls an opportunity to strike. Ruby flew at the machine and slashed its armour as her white and black haired teammates landed next to her.

"Checkmate!"

The two followed the order and began to quickly assault the mechs lower legs, denting the armour. The girl with the rapier finished with a final stab to the last laser, disabling it. They jumped away as the mech attempted to stomp on them. A hatch opened on its top and as it readied to fire them, Herald flew in and punched the machine in the area damaged from the boy earlier, the area caving in and sparking. With Herald so close though, the mech reached out and grabbed Herald's body in one hand and her mech's arm in the other. With a sudden strong tug, Herald felt her back detract from her metal frame, several small cables snapping in the process. Her eyes widened as she screamed in agony as it pulled again, the cables attached to legs breaking, the damaged cables leaking light blue liquid. Wretched free from her suit and howling in pain, the mech tossed Herald aside and crushed the suit spine, tossing it to the side too.

Herald weakly propped herself up and began to crawl towards her suit, an unholy pain radiating from every fiber of her body. Despite being separated, she could still **FEEL** her draconic frame. She felt like her spine was mangled, twisted. As the fight raged on, Herald crawled with all her might. She couldn't use her legs, not that it mattered, as she couldn't even feel them. She reach her frame and pulled herself into it, and leaned back. Her core shone as the cables reattached and healed, her pain worsening for a second before lessening, her spine repairing itself. She floated into the air. As she stared at the machine fall apart after one finally punch, a man fell out of the wreck. Electric sparks arced out of her as a bubbling feeling of rage boiled over inside her, the power flowing out of her core causing more pain as her limbs were overwhelmed by the sheer output. Without thinking, she screamed again pointing her ether cannon and dual tails, both overflowing with energy, at the man and fired. He looked concerned for a second before a young dual hair coloured, heterochromic girl landed in front of him and blocked the blast with a parasol. Her confident smile faded though as the beam of energy began pushing her back, scorching the pink colouring brown as the blast dissipated. The man sighed.

"Well, that was almost dangerous. Well, time for us to leave Neo, ladies, ice queen." he gave an idle wave as the white haired girl shouted in protest.

Neo gave a bow as Herald charged, still infuriated, her ether cannon held in hand. As she reached them, it's barrel opened slightly as a blade extended out. She bisected them at the waist, but the twin pieces shattered like glass as an airship sped off. Herald heard the girls behind her speaking, but she was too focused on trying to calm herself. She feel her power flowing out of her core, sparks raining from her body.

 _Not again...control yourself Herald. Not again...NOT AGAIN!_ Herald thought as her power began to run wild.

She clutched herself as her tails leaked electric ether formed from the dust in the air.

"Hey, umm Herald wasn't it, are you okay?" Ruby asked noticing Herald's distress.

"All of you...run...run away NOW!" she cried as her ether cannon vented a large pulse of energy, the beam it formed ripping up the ground.

The black haired girl with the bow dodged the blast barely as it snaked its way across the ground. As Herald cried out in pain again, Perun landed next to the group.

"Herald! Herald, control yourself!" Perun yelled running over.

"P-Perun, run...take them...and run! B-Before I hurt y-you…!"

"Herald, I'm not running away, we promised, we all promised to help you if this happened again. Rex, Nia, Tora and Zeke may not be here, Morag may not be here right now. But, but I'll help you." Perun drew her weapon "Just like back then, I'll beat the energy out of you. Together, we can stop your rampage, you know that!"

Herald vented another pulse, Perun raising her shield just in time to block it. The force pushed her back into the group.

"What's wrong with her?!" the white haired girl asked.

"Herald, she has immense power, enough to almost rival the Aegis, but if she's pushed too far, uses too much, she can go berserk. It's not her choice though. I need your help, without my driver, I cannot do enough damage to her." Perun explained.

"Damage, we have to hurt her?" the bowed girl asked.

"Don't worry, she'll recover from any wound not inflicted on her core, we just need her to expand enough energy regenerating for her to regain control."

"Got it, team RWBY, this is our next mission, subdue Herald!" Ruby ordered.

"Heh, good thing I'm all fired up then." the blond girl laughed cracking her knuckles.

Herald released another anguished yelled as she turned fully to the group, a mix of pain and regret on her face.

"I-I sorry…" she whispered as more power arced around her.

* * *

AN: Behold, the combination of me trying to modify a story!  
All joking aside, this is longer than I thought it would be. And I cut out the fight for the next chapter.

I'm going to be honest, I had no idea how to squeeze Perun and Herald into the Roman fight, but then again, I really didn't have to. The fight in the next chapter, I hope people like it, because I going to try and get that right.  
Not kidding, when I first thought of this story, around the start of February, Herald was always going to be a part of it, specifically for this scene. Berserk Herald. It was actual Perun who was the one undecided person of ages. First it was Nia, then I realised only Rex and Zeke would be left fighting fit on Alrest, so I changed it to Kasandra, then Perun. Yeah, weird I know.

And last time, I thought the chapter wasn't very good, but Novice4129, for all intensive purposes, snapped me out of it, so thanks again for that. I kind of have confidence issues with my writing. After all, with the fire emblem stories (got to finish that chapter An Awakened bond broken bond, it's been half done for a month.), I never really got any feedback, so I kind of had to try fix and gauge if I was writing okay on my own. Turns out an echo chamber is a bad teacher.

One last story thing, I went back and saw that chapter 3 and 4 have the same name technically, but the problem is that the names suit the chapters, so I'm just going to leave it. I just thought it was kind of annoying.

Anyway, things are going to be picking up a bit in the next few chapters, hope people enjoy. Review, PM, stuff like that.  
Although, there might not be a chapter for like, three weeks because exams are in a week of like, three weeks or something, so yeah, fun.  
Anyway, enjoy.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven: Despite gamble

 _Italics= character thoughts_

 **Warning: This chapter contains spoilers for chapter 8 to chapter 10 and well, the entire end of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Got that? Good.**

* * *

Perun rushed forward as Herald aimed her cannon. The girls all jumped to the side as Herald fired an electric beam, Perun jumping over it. She stabbed at Herald who flew into the air to dodge. Ruby pointed her scythe at Herald.

"Weiss, ice flower!" she ordered.

Weiss nodded as she spawned a glyph in front of Ruby, who fired the rifle in her weapon's head, the bullets being encased in ice. Upon hitting Herald, they exploded into ice, impeding her movement and causing her to fall slowly from the weight.

"Gravity!" the glyph turned black and Ruby fired another bullet, this one launched Herald back and shattered the ice with a deep boom. Herald smashed into a pillar and flowed back up, a hole in her shoulder closing rapidly.

"Woah, that's weirrrrdddd." Ruby commented.

"Ruby focus!" the bowed girl yelled as she ran up to her.

Herald fired several blasts, the girl dodging the shots by leaving shadowy copies of herself to take the hits. She reached Herald and slashed at her with a sword and sharpened sheath. Herald swung at her, but the girl was too fast.

"Yang now!" the girl yelled.

The blond girl, Yang, ran in from the side and punching the mech's shoulder, the impact caving in the 'metal'. She unleashed a flurry of blows, which Herald suddenly shot into the air, away from the assault. Perun lifted up her lance and aimed it at Herald and threw it, the ice rimmed lance stabbing her side.

"Blake?" Yang smiled.

Blake nodded and cupped her hands and threw Yang into the air, barely reaching Herald. She grabbed the lance and, spinning around, flung Herald to the ground, followed by Yang throwing the lance after her, impaling and pinning Herald. Perun ran up and ripped the lance out and launched her into the air before repeatedly stabbing rapidly and generating an icy chunk and struck her, the ice shattering and hitting her all over.

* * *

The bullhead shuck as it flew over the city towards the smoke. Poppi looked around.

"This non-titan very fast, usually so slow." she commented.

"Non-titan powered ship technology was supposedly common on Torna, but the technique was loss when it sank. The Torna organisation had the only working ships left, then that Mikhail blew one up taking down Indol." Morag said looking out the side of the ship.

"Wait, so you didn't have planes and boats? How did you travel?" Ironwood asked.

"We did, it is just our vehicles required titan's to be used as a base."

"Are titan's some form of animal? You have people capable of making Poppi but not a boat?"

"I'm not really the one you should ask that General, I don't really know a lot about that sort of thing."

Ironwood opened his mouth but closed it as they neared their destination. What he saw confused him. First he saw four teenagers and Perun fighting, but the wreckage of a Paladin was to the side, and instead they were fighting Herald.

"What's happening down their?"

Morag's expression darkened.

"Sh*t! We need to get down there, now!"

"What's wrong?!"

Morag knew exactly what was happening. Herald was attacking the group and was acting erratic. Herald was berserk.

"Ironman, Herald have huge power, but if use too much or hurt badly, she can lose control and attack friends." Poppi explained.

"What?!"

"She hasn't lost control for nearly a month, she always suppressed it, something must have happened." Morag whispered.

"Hey, get us down there now! Then pull back until I give the signal!" Ironwood ordered banging on the cockpit door.

As they closed in, Poppi jumped out of the ship and did a plunging stab with her saber, landing on Herald's back. Morag and Ironwood got out when it was lower and ran over as Poppi jumped off.

"All of you, leave now!" Ironwood ordered.

"What, no! We can help!" a scythe wielding girl yelled.

"These is too dangerous, please evacuate!" Morag reiterated walking over to Perun.

The four girls had expressions ranging from worry to announce. They then backed away and ran from the battle as Ironwood drew a pistol.

* * *

As the group of girls reluctantly retreated, Morag, Poppi, Perun and Ironwood were left to finish the fight with Herald. Morag stepped forward, concerned.

"Herald, control yourself, remember what you promised to us!"

"M-Morag, I...I can't stop…! I'm trying to, but there's still so much..." Herald strained gripping her shoulders, energy sparking off her.

"As we promised to do if this happened again, we will stop you, again and again until you no longer need us to. Now then, to arms!" Morag ordered as Perun threw her her lance.

Ironwood quickly began to unload his high caliber pistol into Herald, the powerful shots staggering her as it blew holes in Herald's limbs. Poppi charged forward dodging the electric shots that were fired from her tails and jumped up at Herald, slashing at her. Poppi's jets came out of her back, ripping through the her outfit and boosted her up as Herald attempted to grab Poppi. Flying behind her, Poppi's saber released three streams of plasma as she spun, increasing her speed as she slashed Herald's jet engine on the back of her suit, destabilising her. Morag rushed forward as Herald flowed lower due to the damage. Morag stabbed at her suit and legs, leaving shallow and deep wound which began to heal immediately.

"Twin Dragons!" Morag pierced both of Herald's sides.

Herald began to ascend, charging her ether cannon as Morag grabbed onto her.

"Crown splitter!" Morag yelled jumping off Herald and striking her twice before slamming her lance into the mech's head, causing Herald to rocket to the ground and smash into it, the cannon firing the blast off to the side, exploding and tearing up more concrete. Poppi fired a beam of energy from her saber, embedding Herald deeper. As Ironwood approached, Herald lifted her head and screamed, emitting a pulse of electricity at stunned Ironwood and made Ironwood's arm and lower body spasm. Perun generated an icicle and threw it as Herald, who swiped it out of the air with her mech hand as Morag and Poppi landed. Herald remained on her hands and knees as she gasped for air, clearly struggling.

"Friend Herald! Has Poppi and co done enough to calm down?" Poppi asked.

Herald just groaned as her tails leaked more converted liquid ether/dust. Her cannon's barrel opened up and a blade formed.

* * *

Herald forced her eyes closed as she launched herself forward at great speed, blind to who she was going towards. She felt something break from the force and before her blade impaled something and carried it forward, slamming it into a pillar. Herald opened her eyes and felt a chill run up her spine. Blood flowed from the wound she saw. She looked at who she had stabbed, she felt a horrid pit in her stomach form as she saw Morag with a shocked expression with a trail of blood running from her mouth. Herald though she heard someone yell, but she was too focused on Morag as she dropped the cut in two lance.

"I...I didn't…" Morag reached out and grabbed Herald's hand.

"I know you can *cough* control your power, you have so much more control than you think you do. Herald, everyone here, our group on Alrest, everyone believes you can do it, so, prove us right." Morag said weakly smiling.

Herald shut her eyes and concentrated.

 _Morag is right...I can control this, I can stop this, I WILL STOP MYSELF!_ Herald screamed internally.

She pulled her blade out of Morag's stomach and curled into a crude ball as she grabbed her core. She willed her overflowing power into the gem, a terrible pain coming from it as she did. But Herald refused to stop. After a few seconds, she reached her breaking point and released one final electric blast as her power dissipated in her core crystal, the sudden vent knocking her out as she regained control.

* * *

Perun ran over to Morag and lifted her. She wasn't moving.

"Morag! Please, no...no!" Perun yelled as she felt blood seep onto her knee as she held her.

Then she started to feel odd. She looked at her hand and saw light was beginning to come off her. Herald was also starting to emit it too.

"No! Morag, wake up! Please! You can't be dead! I-I don't want to…" Perun was terrified.

"What's happening!?" Ironwood asked as the Bullhead that dropped them off landed, two paramedics that were on board rushing over to them.

"I-If a Driver dies, their Blades turn back to Core Crystals. She's dying! I don't want to lose my memories of Alrest and everyone!" Perun yelled, beginning to cry.

As the two medics examined and attempted to stop Morag's bleeding stomach, Perun remembered what Amaltus did to Zeke with Pandoria and himself with Fan de Noir. She didn't know how it's done, but, it couldn't be that hard...hopefully. She turned to Ironwood and Poppi.

"G-General, I-I think I know how to save her." Perun grabbed Poppi's arm holding her saber "Poppi, cut off part of my Core and transplant it into Morag."

Poppi stepped back, shocked.

"Poppi couldn't possibly…! What if mess up, Poppi could kill Perun! No one know how to do Blade eater thing, not even Zeke!"

"Listen Poppi, either you accidentally kill me, or you succeed and save Morag. We don't have time!" Perun explained as the medics grew more frantic "Cut off some and stick it in her wound, hopefully that's all you need to do, please."

"Wait, calm down, what are you talking about?!" Ironwood asked.

"No time, please Poppi!"

Poppi glanced around, unsure before taking a shaky breath and turning on her saber, the extended plasma blade barely touching the silvery metal surrounding her exposed core. Ironwood looks on with a mix of confusion and worry as Poppi slowly drags the blade across the gem, avoiding cutting too deep and into the embedded core beneath the metal holder. Puren's eyes dilated as she screamed the saber quickly reached the other side and Poppi quickly grabbed the piece and ripped it free, Perun staggering back. Poppi ran over to the medics and held out the pulsing gem piece.

"Put into wound and make sure it stays." Poppi ordered.

"What? We can't just drop some weird crystal into an open wound? What, do you want us to suture it in?"

"Do it, quickly!" Ironwood shouted, reinforcing Poppi.

The two looked at each other before carefully lifting back part of Morag's wound and placing the core fragment into the underlying flesh. Before they could react, the fragment sunk into the bloody wound and began shining brightly. After a second, the small heart rate monitor they had hooked up to her showed her heart rate strengthening before stabling. The wound didn't fully heal, though it did close on both sides mostly, almost stopping the bleeding. The gem sat at its center, red and black line-like veins flowing to and from it.

"Eugh...that looks...nasty." one whispered.

As the group crowded Morag, Perun was still staggering around, barely standing. She grabbed at and clutched the missing part of her core, a horrific pain raking her body as she gasped of air. Her crystal fluctuate in intensity, dimming and glowing as she struggled to cope.

"AHHHGGGHHH!" she screamed as the pain worsted, falling to her knees.

Perun thought she felt someone grab her shoulder, but the pain rendered her numb to all but her current problem. She dug her fingers into the cold concrete ground as she dragged them along, almost ripping off her skin as she held her cut core.

 _By the Architect, this pain is excruciating!_ Perun thought as the pain continued to worsen.

The ground below her slowly started to fade before Perun finally blacked out from the pain, falling fully to the ground.

Poppi shook Perun as she lay on the ground, unconscious. Ironwood ran over.

"Okay, Poppi, can you carry her?" he asked.

Poppi nodded.

"Good, you two, get Morag on board! Poppi, get Perun onto the Bullhead too. Hey, help me get Herald onto the ship." Ironwood directed two soldiers as he pointed at the knocked out Herald.

Between the three of them, they dragged Herald on board. Ironwood handcuffed her two human hands.

"I doubt that will come close to impeding her, but, it's something. The two of you secure the area and await an Atlas clean up crew to deal with the Paladin. Don't let anyone near the wreck." Ironwood ordered.

The two soldiers salute and marched over to the destroyed mech and took a rigid stance as the Bullhead flew away.

* * *

A little bit away, two boys landed on the ground after jumping off the highway.

"Woah! I'm ready for action!" the blond one announced as his monkey tail lazily shifted behind him.

"Umm, Sun, I think the fighting's over." his blue haired friend said looking around.

"What, really?! Great, we missed it!"

"I mean, we did go for noodles…"

"Shut it Neptune, you weren't in a rush either. 'They're probably fine, right?'" Sun replied in a mocking tone.

"Yeah, yeah…" Neptune said with a hand wave.

The walked over to the destroyed mech and were met with two soldiers staring them down. They quickly turned around.

"So, you think they headed back to their dorm?" Sun asked.

"Probably-" Neptune stopped as he stood in something sticky.

He looked down and saw he put his foot in a sizable pool of blood.

"Auuggghhh!" he shrieked jumping back.

"What dude!? Oh, wonder who's that is?" Sun wondered walking over.

He then noticed a slightly torn satchel beside the pool. Picking it up as Neptune freaked out over the blood, he turned it upside down and a blue dust crystal fell into his hand from the damaged top. Sun looked over it and thought it was weird, there was odd line patterns and non clear. It was glowing softly.

"Neptune, what the hell is this?" Sun wondered holding it in front of him.

"Hmm? I don't know." he answered walking around the blood.

As he looked at it, the glowing dust began to release yellow energy as Sun winced in pain before it released a pulse that suddenly opened several shallow wounds on Sun's arm. He dropped the gem and grabbed his arm.

"Ow! What was that?!"

Neptune picked up the blue gem as Sun examined his arm.

"Dude don't touch that, it cut up my arm!"

"I doubt it was this dust Sun." Neptune smugly said as the gem began to release more yellow energy.

A burning pain slowly crept into his hand as another pulse burnt Neptune's hand and triggered a nose bleed.

"OW!...Okay, maybe it is the dust." Neptune admitted holding his nose.

"Yeah, maybe it's some special Atlas dust!"

"I'm not sure about that…"

"Whatever. Hey, wrap it up in your jacket and let's show it to Blake and friends." Sun suggested.

"Why my jacket?"

"Because I only have a shirt and we really shouldn't touch that thing if we can."

"Fine, fine."

Neptune took off his dark red jacket and wrapped up the gem as Sun ran off, Neptune chasing after.

* * *

 **Elysium, Alrest**

Gramps slowed his descent and landed on the newly revealed Elysium, the ground shaking from the impact.

"Well, we've arrived." he commented turning around to the group.

"We know, we felt it." Nia whispered standing up, having fallen over in the landing.

Rex walked over to Nia.

"Need a hand."

"No, I'm fine Rex, I'm not a child."

Nia stood up and looked over the side of Gramps.

"How do we get down?"

"It's simple Nia, you just jump, see!" Zeke announced jumping off Gramp's back and landing on the ground, making a pained wheezing gasped afterwards.

"*sigh* what a idiot."

"Well, if my prince didn't do something stupid every so often, I'd be worried." Pandoria laughed.

"Pandy, I told you you can't make fun of your Driver…" Zeke whined.

"Ehh." Pandoria shrugged and jumped off too, landing with significantly more grace.

Everyone proceeded to disembark Gramp's back in various way, with only one staying behind, unsure of how to get down. Pyra looked around.

"Hmm, how do I…?"

"Pyra, you okay up there?" Rex asked.

"Sorry, I just don't want to straight jump off." Pyra answered.

Mythra walked over too.

"Come on Pyra, I want to look around, we can't wait around all day." Mythra complained.

"Pyra, umm, how about I catch you?" Rex suggested.

"Rex, I don't think that's a g-" Brighid was interrupted by a smiling Zeke.

"Come now, I want to see if chum can do this."

Brighid looked unamused.

Pyra nodded and jumped off Gramps. As she fell, Rex remembered something.

 _Wait...isn't Pyra super heavy...oh no..._ Rex's face dropped remembering that.

Committed to the act now, Rex reached out and caught her, staggering back from the sudden momentum hitting him. His back bent back, but he managed to stay on his feet and put Pyra down next to him.

"Ow ow ow…"

"There, now let's go." Mythra said again, arms folded.

As the group was about to begin walking towards Gromontt, the closest Titan to where they landed, Zeke spotted something approaching at speed. He squinted and through it looked like a nopon...in the sky...being carried by something with something shiny like metal. The flying shape did a flip and flung the nopon at them, which Zeke quickly saw was Tora as he sped towards them.

"G-Get down!" he yelled ducking.

Brighid glanced at the speeding Tora and crouched down, Tora missing both and instead hitting Mythra directly in the chest, knocking her over. Mythra jumped back to her feet, scowling and grabbed Tora's wing and lifted him up.

"Hey, what the hell is the big idea!" Mythra shouted, her grip threatening to break his wing.

"M-Meh meh! Tora sorry! Tora asked Lila to throw him at friends because it faster, but ended up hitting them instead of Zeke catching Tora." Tora explained.

"You wanted me to catch you Furball?! I was more likely to stop you with my face!" Zeke complained, his voice cracking due to his pitch.

Mythra let go of Tora as Lila arrived a bit away and walked up them.

"Greetings friends of Masterpon's Sonnypon. It been a while." Lila bowed greeting them.

"Hey Tora, Lila, how have you been?" Rex asked.

"Tora been alright apart for fighting robots for one whole day before they suddenly stop." Tora said sighing.

"Oh, you were fightin' the artifices?" Nia asked.

"Meh, Tora and Lila had to fight them off with Ardainian soldiers and old driver. It difficult."

"Tora, may I ask where Lady Morag is?" Brighid asked.

"Yeah, and where's Popstar?" Zeke added.

"Umm, Tora not sure how to explain. They missing along with two of Morag's blades."

"What, Morag and Poppi are missing?" Rex repeated.

"Along with Herald and Perun?" Dromarch chimed in.

"When Tora and friend Morag helping evacuate Titan, we go to ether mine to save worker and littlepon. Explosion knocked Tora and Morag off edge, but she throw Tora to safety. Inquisitor fall into discoloured ether and blades go after. Tora sent Poppi after them because me worried. Tora ended up being shipped off Titan before they got back. Arrived on Gromontt then and waited for friends in house." Tora explained.

"Tora and Lila then fight robots until they all stop. After brief break, titan suddenly falling out of sky into water and join with ground. Tora spotted flying thingy and think friends, so Lila carry him here." Lila finished.

"Friends nowhere to be found. Emperor very worried."

"I could guess that, well, if everyone would excuse me, I will depart for His Majesty to inform him of what happened." Brighid said with a slight curtsey.

But as she walked in the direction Tora had flown from, she suddenly stopped and fell to one knee. Everyone ran up to her. As what looked like light was coming off her body.

"Brighid! What's wrong!?" Rex asked, worried.

"T-This feeling...no, Morag!" she yelled trying to stand "S-She's in trouble, dying!"

"What!?"

"I-I can feel it, she's...no, I don't want to go back to my core, I haven't written anything in fighting Jin! I-I don't want to…" suddenly the fading stopped and she felt her strength returning.

"Morag is missing, and I feel she just received a deadly wound. I need to find her." Brighid said.

"Hey, are you all right?" Rex asked.

"Yes, I'm find now, but Lila, can you fly me to the Emperor."

"Yes, should have enough fuel." Lila said jetting over to Brighid and quickly zooming off, leaving everyone stunned.

"What just happened?" Nia asked.

"I believe Brighid have a scare and now wishes to find our Inquisitor." Gramps said looking down on everyone.

"Yeah, I'm a bit worried, let's go!" Rex ordered running after them, the group following after.

* * *

 **Beacon academy dorms, Vale**

Team RWBY walked back into their dorm, Ruby quickly wandering over to her bunk bed and collapsing onto Weiss' bed. Weiss walked up behind her.

"Ruby, get off my bed." Weiss ordered, arms folded.

"Nwo, tired…" she muffled into the bed.

Weiss sighed as Yang stretched and took off Ember Celica.

"Well, tonight was a blast." Yang commented smiling.

"I wouldn't call fighting a mech and then a rampaging woman in a mecha suit a blast." Blake stated dryly.

"Come on, we all found out info, tonight was a success.!" Yang yelled trying to be positive.

Blake kept her frown and walked into the bathroom off to the side, a noticeable negative aura coming off her.

"I forget we have that…"

"What I want to know is why Professor Ozpin wants to talk to us in the morning?" Ruby asked.

"The robot and Torchwick maybe?" Weiss half sneered.

"Hmm, that would explain why he wants that General there too."

As the girls talked, there was a knock on the door. Yang opened the door to a smiling Sun and Neptune holding his jacket.

"Oh, hi guys." Ruby said rolling off the bed.

"Where did you two get off to. You kind of disappeared and never showed up again."

"We did show up...after you where long done." Neptune shrugged.

"Why are you holding your jacket?"

"Because we found some weird dust that hurt us if we held it." Sun lifted up his scabbed up arm "Thought Weiss might know what it is."

"I'm not a dust encyclopedia. But, I'll see if I recognize it." Weiss said with a shrug "I can research it with easy anyway."

Neptune unwrapped his jacket and exposed the supposed dust. Weiss looked at it with a confused expression before picking it up. The line pattern on it didn't look like a carving, and it had an odd warmth to it.

"Hmm, I don't think this is dust…" Weiss whispered as the gem began to glow brighter.

"Hey, Weiss be careful!" Neptune shouted.

Waves of blue energy flowed out of crystal as she grabbed with her other hand and found it was stuck to her hand. The light grew brighter until it was blinding and as it did, Weiss felt the gem leave her hand and fly into her before leaving, the light fading. Everyone turned to see a ball of light hit the ground and quickly grow and change shape to make a humanoid form. The white light disappeared and left behind a girl around Weiss' height. She had powder blue coloured hair that reached her shoulder. It seemed to ripple and wave like water. Her outfit was a sky blue open jacket with a grey top that exposed her stomach due to being a bit to small for her. Her skirt was almost knee length and looked like it was made of cloudy, unnaturally white water. White, heeled thigh high boots clung to her legs. Finally, the group noticed a shiny metal plate below her neck with a glowing gem cut in the Schnee family symbol embedded in it. Blue marking ran along her exposed skin, the only end point being below her eyes, which in turn opened to show dull, pupil less dark purple iris'.

"Hmm…" she jumped slightly twice stretching her right arm "Ahh, hi there, my name is Nero."

She pulled a gem out of her embedded one which quickly changed into a short rod with a spike on its end. She placed her hand on the flat end, causing the spike to detach, though it was still connected to rod by a rope made of water. It extended to around two metres as Nero twirled the now apparent whip and struck the floor in two places, leaving gouges in the floor before wrapping it around her arm and grabbed the watery rope part of the whip.

"Well, nice to meet you Miss Driver, I look forward to helping you in whatever you do." she smiled looking at Weiss.

Everyone stood in in stunned silence as Blake walked out of the bathroom.

"Hey, what did I...who's that?" Blake asked looking at Nero.

* * *

AN: Hi there, it's been almost a month, I've had tests!...I still have tests...save me from my biology fueled hell.

Anyway, ignore that. I've been busy the last month studying and writing, and now I have a week before anymore exams, so to take a break after writing 15 essays and other things, I decided to write!...more...  
So, yeah, this chapter may be a bit odd in a place or two because I wrote it out of sequence. Apart from the first part of the fight, I wrote it backwards starting with the RWBY bit at the end. The the panic part, the Alrest, then finished the fighting. When stressed and suffering from a headache, my head behaves oddly, but it's okay, this helped me relax.

Now, the two parts people will probably wonder about. Morag's injury and the Blade at the end.  
Well first, the blade. There's not much to it, Weiss got a blade, which I spent awhile thinking of her design and weapon. That's two of three cores used, wonder who'll get the last...?  
And finally, the whole blade eater thing. That is not explained in XC2, at all. At most we get is that Amaltus cut out bits and stuck it in Zeke and himself. You can't use Rex because Aegis equals screw rules lets make stuff up and Mikhail has a whole core just shoved in him. So I'm going with you have to cut the top layer off the core and leave the embedded core alone. Not to say that this was prefect, oh no, there are going to be side effects from this...rushed procedure.

Anyway, review, PM, whatever. I hope that I'll get another out before more tests and after that? I'm free!...until I start working a week later, but it won't consume as much time as the exams.  
Anyway, enjoy.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight: Leaking secret

 _Italics= character thoughts_

 **Warning: This chapter contains spoilers for chapter 8 and generally around there of XC2. You should really just presume this story will have Xenoblade spoilers. Got that? Good.**

* * *

Everyone stood and stared in silence at the girl, Nero, who had appeared. After a minute of maintaining her stance, she looked around and unraveled her whip from her arm and laughed nervously.

"So, ehh...why isn't anyone talking? Miss Driver? Other people?" she asked.

"So, is anyone going to ask?" Sun whispered.

"Where did you appear from?" Weiss walked up to Nero with a raised eyebrow.

"My Core Crystal of course Miss Driver, the one you touched and awakened."

"What's a Core Crystal?" Ruby wondered.

"Do none of you know about Blades and our cores?" she received blank stares "Okay...from what little information the is in my core, I can tell you that Blades are beings born from a Core Crystals. Those that awaken us become our Drivers, capable of using weapons made from our cores. We absorb and process ether from the air for energy and arts. I'm not sure what arts are, but they are important. My weapon is this!" she explained holding up her whip "An ether whip weapon type!"

The group still looked confused.

"How did some girl come out of a gem?!" Sun yelled.

"I already explained Mr Monkey. I came from my Core."

"Yeah, don't you get it Mr Monkey?" Yang echoed smiling.

Blake looked over Nero and stopped at her Core Crystal.

"Didn't those women have those gems in their chests too?" Blake asked pointing at Nero's

"Yeah, that blue haired woman did anyway." Yang answered.

"Oh, so have you met Blades before Miss Yellow."

"It's Yang…"

"I think Herald, the mech girl, had one too." Ruby added thinking back.

"So the woman was recovering from her wounds because...she's a blade thing?" Yang wondered.

"Yes, Blade will regenerate from any injury not inflicted to our Cores." Nero explained.

As they talked, Weiss was typing something into her Scroll. As she finished, she took a picture of Nero and attached it to the message, sending it off. Ruby leaned over.

"What'cha doing?" she asked.

"Sending a message to Professor Ozpin. Hopefully he'll have an answer to this."

"How would he know anything about her." Blake questioned.

"He may know something, because we certainly don't."

"So, Miss Driver, what is your name? I didn't ask."

"My name is Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee dust company." Weiss announced proudly.

"Okay Miss Schnee, is there any task you wish to do in which I can assist?"

"Oh! Hey, maybe you can help with my homework!" Ruby exclaimed suddenly appearing in front of Nero.

"Umm, but I was wondering if Miss Schn-" Ruby grabbed her jacket sleeve and pulled her over to a desk.

"Weiss and Blake always say they're too busy and Yang can't help, so maybe you can." Ruby reasoned.

"What is happening!" Neptune yelled.

"How would I know!" Sun replied with a raised eyebrow and a shrug.

* * *

Ironwood fixed his tie and collar as himself and Poppi ascended in the elevator. He had decided to bring Poppi along to Ozpin's sudden call as Morag, Perun and Herald where still all unconscious.

"What Professor want?" Poppi wondered.

"I don't know, but in the message he said wanted Morag to come and well, she's not in any state to attend. It was either you or KOS-MOS and well, you certainly know more." he answered.

The lift stopped and the doors opened to a nearly unnoticeable worried Ozpin and a concerned Glynda.

"So, Oz, what appears to be the problem. I thought we were going to talk tomorrow after the little chat with that team RWBY." Ironwood asked as he walked over.

"Well yes James, that was the plan, but...I received a message from one of students that concerns our visitors." Ozpin stated turning his screen around to face the two.

Ironwood skimmed the message before stopping on the attached image. His expression instantly changed.

"Who sent this?!"

"A student whose family I believe you are acquainted with, Miss Weiss Schnee." Ozpin said standing up.

"That girl look like Blade." Poppi said leaning very close to the screen, spotting a Core Crystal on the blue haired girl.

"Yes, from the description of the blade appearing Morag gave and what Miss Schnee described, along with that Perun who was brought up having a similar gem in her chest, I presumed as much Miss…?" Ozpin trailed off looking at Poppi.

"Poppi's name is Poppi. Ironman brought Poppi because other friends hurt or asleep." Poppi introduced herself.

"Heh, Ironman." Glynda sniggered.

"Ignore that! Ozpin, what are we going to do? Keeping this a secret is a top priority, and this will not help!"

"Well James, we will have to give an explanation to Miss Schnee, as whatever cover story you had for tomorrow for team RWBY is most likely not going to explain away this new 'blade'."

"Can something please just go my way." Ironwood begged "Fine, umm, how about they're experimental beings made by Atlas?" Ironwood said to himself.

"Oh yes James, Atlas is making nigh invincible people that come from weird gems, that will make everyone trust Atlas." Glynda said condescendingly.

"What, you want me to come out and say 'oh yeah, these thing came from an alternative dimension when an Atlas researcher accidentally broke reality with experimental dust!?'"

"Well, that what happen right?" Poppi chimed in.

"Yes, I believe that my be the best course of action." Ozpin stood and shushed Ironwood as he opened his mouth "I'm not saying tell her everything, but you will have to tell Miss Schnee some information, not all of it, but enough for her to understand the gravity of the situation. Her sister knows, yes? And you trust her. I believe you should afford some trust to her too. We will tell her to keep much of what we say confidential, but team RWBY will have to told a little tomorrow too. A military secret." Ozpin proposed walking over to Ironwood.

"How much will you tell new Driver Mr Professor?" Poppi asked.

Ozpin smiled as he took out his Scroll.

* * *

In team RWBY's dorm, all was quiet. Weiss sat on her bed searching the internet for anything on this 'Blade', Blake lay in silence thinking over what happened tonight, Ruby was writing in a copybook, answering questions on multiple topics with Nero sat beside her, confused by all the books splayed about the desk and Yang hovered behind the two, keeping an eye on Nero. Sun and Neptune had left, claiming to have no idea what was happening like everyone else and only filling up the room. As Ruby answered another, Nero stopped her.

"That's wrong." she said pointing to a question related to dust.

"Huh?"

"You said dust cannot be injected into humans, but it can, it will empower the person but has side effects and can kill you, also, dust losses potency at mesosphere, not 'up in space'" Nero corrected.

"Really? How do you all that?" Ruby asked.

"I...I don't know. Looking at the questions, the answers just...came to me." Nero answered, confused.

Before Ruby could ask more, Weiss' Scroll went off. She opened the message she received and read it before sighing. She walked over to Nero.

"Come with me." she ordered.

"Of course Miss Schnee."

"What did Professor Ozpin say?" Ruby questioned.

"Myself and Nero are to come up to his office right now."

"Only you two?"

"Yes." Weiss walked out of the room, Nero running after.

"So, Yang, wanna help?"

"I don't know the answers." Yang walked over to her bed shrugging.

"Yaaannngg." Ruby whined.

* * *

The two walked through the now dark school grounds, the sun having fully set. Weiss looked behind her to see Nero's core and markings glowing in the dim light. As the two reached the elevator to Headmaster of Beacon's office, Weiss looked over at her again.

"How did you know that about dust?" Weiss suddenly asked.

"Umm, I'm not exactly sure Miss Schnee. The answers kind of just popped into my head. Blades I believe usually have certain skills innate to them. I can certainly manipulate water...maybe knowledge of that dust stuff is another? As for any more...I do not know." Nero speculated.

The look on Weiss' face expressed one of confusion and regret. Now she has to wonder how someone who appear from nowhere has decent knowledge of dust.

 _Although among my team, it isn't hard to beat them in dust trivia_ Weiss thought as they reached the elevator.

Both entered and Weiss pressed the top button, the elevator beginning to move. They both stood in silence until the door finally opened into Professor Ozpin's office. He sat at his desk along with Professor Goodwitch. Two more people turned to them as they entered. Both had appeared while fighting Herald and forced them to leave. Actually getting a good look at them, Weiss recognised one to be General Ironwood of the Atlas military and the other was that woman that was in the library yesterday. Although they looked at and acknowledged Weiss' presence, they were obviously more interested in Nero.

"Yep, she definitely Blade." the woman suddenly said after looking over Nero.

"Professor Ozpin, please tell me you know what is happening?" Weiss asked.

"Please have a seat Weiss, this may take awhile. You too..." Ozpin gestured to Nero.

"My name is Nero Mr Ozpin." she answered taking a seat next to Weiss.

"I see, Nero. Now then, do either of you know anything about what Nero is?"

"Well, when she appeared, she called herself a 'Blade', she came from a gem she called a Core Crystal, can summon a whip, can regenerate from wounds like that woman in the mech from earlier and something about art and skills." Weiss listed off.

"Yes, unfortunately, I do not have a lot of information in my core. I worry that I don't have the correct amount." Nero said with obvious worry.

"Amount of memory and info very from blade to blade, Nero no need to worry." the blue haired woman reassured.

"Why do you talk like that? It was like that yesterday too." Weiss commented, slightly annoyed by her speech pattern.

"This how Poppi always talk. Never understood why people use so many more words." Poppi answered folding her arms, frowning.

"Anyway, Weiss, Nero, what we are about to tell you must be keep a secret from everyone, even your team. Tomorrow, in the meeting we had planned, they will be told a modified version of the cover story about what transpired today, but the what we are about to tell the both of you must be kept confidential." Ozpin explained.

"What, you want me to hide things from my team?!" Weiss yelled.

"Miss Schnee, very few know anything about these, 'Blades', and the reason we are going to tell you this much is sitting next to you." Glynda added in a serious tone.

"The only people who know are myself, Oz, Glynda, four...experts on the subject, a student from Atlas, her father and your sister." Ironwood explained, being noticeably more vague as he listed them off.

"Winter knows?"

"Yes, friend Winter was there when other Blade was awakened." Poppi casually said.

"Poppi!" Ironwood turned to her and gave an annoyed stare.

"How many of these things are there?!"

"T-Things…?" Nero whispered, disheartened.

"Wait, no, I didn't mean it like that!" Weiss attempted to backpedal.

"Anyway, back onto the topic at hand." Ozpin said rerailing the conversation.

* * *

At first, she couldn't feel anything, it was like a suffocating abyss of viscous darkness. The glowing marks on her skin and core were drowned in it. She could feel a pain in her chest, coming from one spot alone, it refused to fade. She grasped at nothing, trying to swim, escape, but she just sank deeper.

 _I refuse to die! I won't die, I can't!_

The force dragging her lessened as she struggled more and more, until suddenly…

Perun woke with a start, gasping and clawing at the bunk above her. She felt a pain radiate from her core caused by the sudden movement. She grabbed at her chest as someone ran over.

"Perun, are you alright?!" she turned to see Penny beside her, KOS-MOS walking over as well.

Perun swallowed and as she was about to speak, remembered what happened. She jumped out of the bunk, but her legs seemed to refuse to obey her, causing her knees to buckle and Perun fell back. KOS-MOS reached out quickly and caught her.

"Perun, you are missing approximately 40% of your outer Core Crystal, sudden movement is ill-advised." KOS-MOS warned.

"Neh, no! I have to check on Morag!"

"She's fine! *hic* Well, stable." Penny reassured.

KOS-MOS plopped Perun back on the bunk as she continued to breath heavily.

"Is your core thing alright? It started to lose its glow before suddenly flaring up and now it's...flickering? Is it meant to do that?" Penny asked.

"No Master, it is a sign of severe damage."

"I-I'm fine…" Perun gasped, the pain suddenly worsening before fading to a dull ping.

"Perun, excessive movement or stress may cause you condition to deteriorate."

"I said I'm fine, I'm just use my megalance to prop me up." Perun said with a smile.

She pulled out a gem from her core and attempted to generate her lance, but the gem appeared cracked and a staticy aura surrounded it before it lost its glow and crumbled into dust. Perun generated another, this one missing the same amount as her core and summoned her weapon. As she held it, the gem in its head lost its glow again and the ice covering the blade melted away rapidly and it grew dull and brittle. Perun ignored it and attempted to use it for balance, but the shaft of the lance snapped instantly, Perun falling over as it did.

"Perun, please! You're going to hurt yourself!" Penny helped her up.

"What's wrong with me…?"

"You are missing approximately 40% of your core." KOS-MOS repeated.

"So? Pandoria and Fan de Noir were fine with missing half of their cores, what's so different between me and them."

"From what little Poppi told myself and Master upon returning, this act of removing the core from a Blade and inserting it into a Driver was performed by a man who invented the practice, yes?" KOS-MOS asked.

"Yeah, I think Amalthus made it."

"It is most likely a complicated procedure. Damage and removal of pieces of our cores is highly dangerous. It is very likely this Amalthus had a technique that is unknown to you that lessens the damages. You effectively had Poppi cut out a piece of your very self. I cannot comprehend the full extent of the vast complications that can arise from the act you performed. Running through the possible outcomes as we watched you sleep, this was one of the more favourable ones." KOS-MOS explained.

Perun's face twisted from annoyance to fear.

 _I'm not going to die...I will be alright...I hope…_ Perun thought as she sat there.

* * *

Weiss sat in her chair, silent after Professor Ozpin and Ironwood had finished explaining were the Cores had come from...mostly.

 _They left out about Poppi and friends_ Poppi thought.

After a minute, Nero stood up.

"So, where will I sleep?" she asked curiously "Miss Schnee's room only has four beds, and due to the state they are in and the amount of personal items in the room, there isn't much room."

"Hmm, that is a good question." Ozpin leaned back in his chair.

"If you prove a blanket and pillow, the floor in between the beds would be fine." Nero suggested.

"No, you are not sleeping on the floor." Weiss answered.

"Miss Schnee, I don't mind. Blades do not need a lot of sleep and I don't wish to be a bother."

"B-But…"

"Miss Schnee, I believe that for tonight, that will have to suffice as it is far too late to begin trying to locate a bed or room for Nero." Glynda said glancing at her watch.

Weiss took out her Scroll and saw it was 11 at night.

 _I didn't realise how late it was._

"Classes do not begin until 11 tomorrow. We will have our planned meeting and discuss more on what to do with Nero. Goodnight Miss Schnee." Ozpin gave a small wave as Weiss stood and turned to leave with Nero, Glynda following to get them a pillow and blanket for Nero.

As the elevator door closed and the lift departed, Ironwood sighed.

"What the hell am I going to do Oz?" he sighed in a resigned tone.

"There isn't much you can do if Blades can't be removed from their owners."

Poppi just looked around as the room's mood slowly degraded.

* * *

Both Driver and Blade stood outside RWBY's dorm, Weiss holding a pillow and Nero laden down with a somewhat thick blanket she had suggested to dampen her glowing core and markings. Weiss sighed and opened the door and found that Ruby and Yang had gone to bed while Blake lay on her bed, her amber eyes visible in the dark room. They walked in and dumped the blanket and pillow on the floor with Weiss going into the bathroom to change. Blake continued to stare at Nero as she wrapped herself up in the blanket, reducing her glowing parts to a barely noticeable muted blue.

"Tomorrow…" Nero whispered as she lay down and covered up to her nose as well, blocking out more light.

Blake turned away as Weiss came out in her nightdress and got into her bed.

 _An Atlas scientist accidentally tore a hole in reality and these gems fell out? If what happened with Nero didn't happen, I wouldn't believe it...but, it may be true…_ she turned and looked over at the covered Nero _What is happening? And why do I have to hide it from everyone_ Weiss wondered in her head.

* * *

AN: I think Perun is broken...

Anyway, Nero's field or green skills, as she said are water mastery, knowledge of dust (dustology?) and a mystery third one.  
As I said above there, what Perun did was...not smart. There are side effects.  
Also, this may not get another chapter for a little bit as my exams are looming again.  
By the way, I wish we got a little more on how the blade eater thing worked. That along with flesh eaters were very interesting to me in Xenoblade.

I've sat here for a few minutes trying to remember what I also wanted to say but I really can't remember, so I may add or change this if I remember...so don't count on that. My memory is bad.  
Review, PM, stuff, you know.

Anyway, enjoy.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine: Hidden blade

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

Herald began to stir and opened her eyes. She was in a tight, dim room. Looking around, she tried to move her arms and found her non-mech ones were handcuffed together. She floated up and tried to float straight but found that the room was too short and hit her mech head. She fell to her knees and looked at the cuffs.

 _This wouldn't stop me..._ she thought as she nearly broke the chain connecting them with simply pulling her arms apart.

Herald leaned forward and knocked on the door with her mech fist. The sound of scrambling feet and one or two muffled yells reached her, with one especially loud yell calling for an AMR. She heard more shifting around until someone shouted an order and everyone went silent. Then the door opened and General Ironwood walked in, a grim expression on his face. Herald knew exactly why. The door closed and stronger light turned on.

"You know, we had to turn you on your side and slide you in to get you through that." he motioned towards the door.

Herald stayed silent.

"Anyway, Herald...what happened? When we got there, there was a destroyed Paladin, you were fighting teenagers, Perun was there as well. KOS-MOS won't let us speak to her by the way, 'too unstable', so, please explain." he said in calm but commanding tone.

"I...we...I had left the corridor outside the sleeping quarters for a minute and when I returned, Perun wished to chase after Penny-" Ironwood stopped her.

"I know that much, what happened with the Paladin."

"That...myself and Perun heard explosions and chased after them, coming to long road filled with vehicles. The Paladin was chasing two teenagers and throwing the vehicles everywhere. Perun jumped off to rescue people from the wrecks. The mech was forced off the road and engaged us all in combat. During it, I was badly injured, the man controlling it ripped me out of my frame. The pain...was maddening. By the time I was able to fight again, they had destroyed it. My anger, hatred, pain...boiled over and I just lashed out. After he and his accomplice fled, I realised that my power was spiraling out of control. Then they all fought me on Perun's order to attempt to wear me out." Herald explained.

"I see."

"It could have been worse." Ironwood raised an eyebrow "KOS-MOS mentioned it before, how there isn't ether in the air, only traces this dust you use. Blade's cores process ether for energy, both for arts and weapons as well as for ourselves. This dust is...inefficient. Too thinly spread, heavy, specialised. In my rampage I consumed the majority of the dust in the air of that area. I believe that is why I weakened to the point I could control myself again."

"Hmm, most likely the dust comes from how dust is used for so many things, there is an invisible mist in the air in cities and populated areas. But that means that out in the wilds, outside towns and cities, it probably thins to non-existence. So, Herald, I have an order for you."

Herald looked at him before nodding.

"If this ever happens again, before you completely lose control, run, fly, just escape to somewhere far away from civilization. Go to a place devoid of dust, and run rampant. Blast trees, scorch the ground, destroy all Grimm most likely attracted to you until you run out of power, regain control, then return. When Morag is conscious, I'm going to say this to her too. I believe it is an acceptable plan of action." Ironwood suggested.

Herald nodded and held up her hands.

"I must ask, did you think these would stop me?"

"Not really, it was more a case of this was all we could do."

Ironwood opened the door and stepped out.

"I'll go get a key, try and maneuver yourself out."

As he walked away, Herald attempted just that, turning sideways and floating on her side, trying to get through the door. Her frame's shoulder scratched the ground as she squeezed out, in the process also pulling her arms apart and snapping the chain of the handcuffs with easy. Herald straightened herself as Ironwood returned, sighing at the broken cuffs.

"Fantastic…"

* * *

The low sound of someone moving around and failing at hiding their footsteps roused Morag from her hazy sleep. She barely opened her eyes and found that her vision was blurred. She then heard a door close. Blinking a few times, Morag's vision cleared and she was met with a white ceiling. She presumed she was lying in a bed.

 _Wh...What happened?_ Her thoughts came slower then she'd like.

Her memory of what happened when she was last awake seemed to deteriorate to a mess of foggy images when she tried to remember beyond exiting the Atlas flying ship. Why was she on that ship again?

"Eugh...why does my stomach feel...cold?" she whispered, noticing her voice was muffled by something on her mouth.

Morag lifted her heavy arm and saw that both a needle was stabbed into her wrist and a clip was on her thumb. Lowering it, Morag just lay there, unmoving, as she collected her thoughts.

 _We were there to stop something...someone? The General, Poppi, Perun...was Herald there?...She was...she was...fighting..._ Morag's eyes widened as her mind cleared slightly _Herald...we were fighting her! Berserk, she was...berserk._

As her thoughts began to catch up with her, what had happened rose out of fog as her mind sped back up. Morag glanced around the room. It appeared to be a medical room, her bed had bars on its side and there were two other empty beds. A table with bottles on it was in her lower vision, barely in view from her position. Morag grabbed the side bar and used it to help her sit up, a pain in her stomach worsening before returning to a more manageable level. Morag shifted back and propped herself against the back rail of the bed, holding the side for balance.

"Now then, were am I?" she asked herself.

Looking around only reaffirmed what she saw lying down. Two more beds, a table with medical supplies and a door. Looking to her left and right though showed new sights. Her right had a metal stand with a near empty bag of blood hanging from it, a tube going to her wrist. The clip was attached to a wire that lead to a machine that beeped every second or so. On her left was a similar stand that had a clear liquid in a bag going into her other wrist and a metal canister connected to what was over her mouth and nose. Finally, she looked down at her body. A white medical gown covered her down to her lower thigh.

 _I believe my wound was...here._ Morag very slowly touched her lower stomach, a tender pain shot out of it, joining the constant dull pain.

Morag barely touched around the area, attempting to find out how large it was but stopped as she touched something cool. Through both her gown and the bandages she knew she had, a cool, almost cold, object was at the center of the wound. She gingerly tapped it twice, confused and saw a brief, sudden glow before it faded instantly.

"What was that?" Morag asked herself, confused and a bit concerned.

Morag looked around, unsure of how to contact anyone.

"Hey, hello!? Is anyone out there?" she yelled at the door lifting up the face mask.

After a few seconds, the door opened and an Atlas soldier looked in.

"Oh god, you're already awake!? Umm, I-I'll go get the doctor." he closed the door.

Morag sighed and leaned back.

* * *

Nero opened her eyes to find a line of sunlight across her face. She looked back and saw that light was struggling to get through the curtains of the room. She glanced left and right and saw everyone was still asleep. Nero quietly slipped out of her blanket and walked over to the bookshelf under the window. Weiss' Scroll was sitting on top of it.

 _We need to go see Mr Ozpin before Miss Schnee's classes at...11 I believe._ She thought picking up the Scroll.

Nero didn't know how they worked, but she saw Weiss press the side to make it extend and touch the screen to make things appear. She pushed a button on the side, the metallic sides shooting out and pressed the screen. 'Enter password' appeared on the screen, but Nero was more interested in the time on the top of it, 9am. Nero put it down and walked over to her Driver.

"Miss Schnee?" She whispered and shook her.

Weiss only muttered nonsense and dug deeper into the covers. Nero shook harder and pulled down the blanket, her core and markings shining on Weiss' closed eyes. Weiss lazily opened her eyes and was met with Nero's face. Weiss let out a sharp yelp.

"What?!...Nero! What are you doing?" Weiss asked, irritated.

"Sorry Miss Schnee, but it's 9 in the morning. Everyone needs to get up and ready for the meeting with Mr Ozpin." Nero remained her.

"Uhh, I'd forgotten about that…" Yang moaned sitting up.

"Miss Xion Long, your hair is a bit messy."

"Damn it, not again!" Yang jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom.

"Welp, looks like we have to go to the gym's showers again…" Ruby sighed.

"Why, surely Miss Xion Long just needs to quickly wash it to untangle it." Nero suggested.

"Ha ha ha!...Your so naive." Ruby laughed.

"Ruby, you can't talk about being naive." Weiss deadpanned.

The three remaining team RWBY members collectively crawled out of their beds and gathered up towels and a uniform each. Ruby ran out the door with Blake walking after her. Weiss turned to Nero.

"When Yang eventually comes out of there, tell her to meet us at the cafeteria. Afterwards, before the meeting, I'll come get you." Weiss asked.

"Of course Miss Schnee."

Weiss followed her team out the door, leaving Nero alone except for the occasional disgruntled groan from Yang. After a minute of looking around the room standing still, Nero began to wander. She walked over to the window and opened the curtain and then crouched down to the line of books. A few caught her eye. She grabbed one and looked at the cover.

"Basically Dust, a beginner's guide to dust…" Nero red out.

 _If they have books like this, why does Miss Rose need help with her homework?_

Nero sat on Weiss' bed and began reading the book, which quickly resulted in her flicking through the pages due to the knowledge of all the basics coming to her as soon as she red the chapter title. Nero frowned.

"I...know all this...how?" she asked herself.

Nero walked over the line again and grabbed the next one. The cover had 'History of Dust' on it. Nero opened the book and found that she knew bits and pieces of the beginning of the book on how dust was supposedly discovered, but stopped at the third chapter, 'The rise of the Schnee company.'

Nero sat and stared at the page, a feeling of unease growing despite not knowing anything about what the chapter was about to say.

"Schnee…" Nero whispered as she heard a door slam, making her jump.

Yang walked out of the bathroom, rubbing her hair.

"Okay, who's next…" Yang stopped and looked around "Hey, where is everyone?" she asked.

"Everyone went to have a shower and get dressed in the 'gym'. Miss Schnee asked me to tell you to go to the cafeteria then." Nero explained.

"Huh? I wasn't that long, only...30 minutes. Wait, 30 minutes." Yang rechecked her Scroll after reading out the time.

 _30 minutes? But I only just flipped through a book and a half..._ Nero thought looking down and realising the books pages had imprints from her gripping the same place of a while.

"Well, let's go." Yang grabbed Nero's arm.

"Wait, Miss Xion Long, I was asked to stay here."

"Come on, sometimes you gotta go with the flow." Yang smiled.

"Miss Xion Long, p-please…!" Nero attempted to state again.

* * *

RWB sat at a table with a tray each eating, although Blake was only really poking at it. Weiss glanced around as team JNPR began to walk over to them. Then she turned and saw Yang march into room, dragging a worried looking Nero behind her. Weiss nearly choked and jumped up and ran over, Jaune and Pyrrha looking on in confusion at Weiss' sudden movement.

"Yang, what are you doing?!" Weiss stifled an angry yell trying to not attract attention.

"What, you want her to rot in the room?"

"No, just, ehh, go get something to eat, I've had enough." Weiss grabbed Nero and lead her away.

They rounded the corner away from everyone as Weiss zipped up Nero's jacket, covering her core and stomach markings.

"I'm sorry Miss Schnee, she didn't listen and was surprisingly strong." Nero apologised.

"It's okay, Yang can be...overpowering, in both mind and body."

"Miss Schnee, can I ask about your family company?" Nero asked hesitantly.

"Yes, why so suddenly? What's wrong?"

"While waiting for Miss Xion Long, I red through a dust book and found that I knew the all the basics, but on a history of dust, upon reaching a part about Schnee company, a feeling of...unease, one completely unknown to me surfaced. I...cannot explain it, I know nothing of it and yet…" Nero stopped as she dwelled on the recent memory.

"My family, no...my father has done and still attempts to operate in an area of moral grey. I'll tell you more later...this isn't the best place for this conversation…"Weiss whispered, clearly deeply uncomfortable.

"Of course Miss Schnee, I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologise Nero."

The conversation completely died after that, Nero regretting bring up the clearly painful subject. After waiting for ten minutes in silence, Weiss' Scroll began to ring. Not answering, Weiss looked around the corner and then fully went around, Nero following. The rest of RWBY were standing in front of cafeteria.

"So, you ready?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, let's get this over with." Blake stated, an air of annoyance around her.

The group of five began to walk over to Professor Ozpin's elevator.

* * *

Atop Beacon's spire, Professor Ozpin looked down over the school as the lift door opened, Ironwood walking out. He was alone this time.

"Ah James, I was wondering if you were going to be late for your own meeting."

"Sorry, things where a bit hectic. I had to talk to Herald and get her out of her containment, then I couldn't find Poppi, and then on the way over I got a message that Morag woke up so after this I need to go check on her. My list of worries seems to be growing out of control." Ironwood explained.

"I see, so, do you have your story straight?"

"Oz, you're making it sound like I'm trying to lie to get away with misbehaving."

Ozpin chuckled as the lift behind him closed, the LED screen showing it descend to the ground floor. After a minute, the door reopened as team RWBY and Nero walked in.

 _Well, showtime..._ Ironwood thought.

The group all stood and looked at Ironwood and Ozpin.

"Thank you for coming team RWBY. I'm going to start by thanking you for neutralizing the stolen Atlesian Paladin before it caused too much damage. I can assure you that the Atlas military will find any other missing equipment before it becomes an issue." Ironwood thanked with a slight bow.

"Oh, it was no problem. I just wish my bad guy catching record wasn't a double negative…" Ruby commented.

"Sis, that implies that it makes a positive one."

"That's in math Yang." Weiss added.

"Now, to the new problem." everyone looked at Nero, who waved nervously "You are probably all wondering who or want Nero and Herald are and well…" Ironwood paused for a second before sighing.

"They are a new, experimental method of dealing with the Grimm that Atlas are attempting to make. But as you saw, some early ones are, unstable. Another problem as well as that is their special synthetically created dust gems that we call core crystals become imprinted with the DNA of whoever touches them, making them unfortunately bound to them." Ironwood explained.

 _This doesn't sound convincing at all..._ Weiss muttered in her head.

"What, so, these blade things or whatever Nero called herself are weird gem people Atlas are making to kill Grimm?" Yang questioned.

Ironwood put his hands together and pointed at Yang, "Yes."

"That sounds both equal levels of cool and stupid." Yang replied.

"So, besides that, I would like you to keep this a secret from everyone. The world isn't ready for them to be revealed yet."

"But what are we going to do with her?" Blake asked "She can't just sleep and live in our dorm."

"I have a solution to that."

Ironwood lifted up a bag he had brought with him. He pulled out an Atlas school uniform.

"Nero is a student from Atlas whos team hasn't arrived yet."

"And I believe I can find her a single bed dorm in the exchange student side of the dorms." Ozpin added.

"What about her, umm, flowy hair and blue tattoos?" Ruby asked.

"Only her facial ones will be visible in this uniform and as for them and her hair…" Ironwood trailed off, having forgotten about her waving hair.

"If I may, I believe that I have a solution." Ozpin interrupted "Infusing dust into one's body can have a multitude of side-effects. Nero got tattoos infused with dust, believing it would make her look 'cool', but the untested formula had this effect on her, causing the practice to die out before it fully began." Ozpin suggested with a smile.

"I believe that." Yang said with a shrug.

"Well, there we go, Nero is completely explained, we should get to class." Weiss said, wishing to leave before anyone doubted General Ironwood's story.

"Weiss is right! We only have 30 minutes to get to Professor Oobleck's class!" Ruby yelled looking at her Scroll.

The group ran over to the elevator as Nero grabbed the uniform and joined them.

"Miss Schnee, can you help me with this?" she asked as the door opened.

"There's a restroom on the ground floor, I'll help you there." Ironwood and Ozpin heard as the door's closed.

Ozpin began to sign Nero up to all of the same classes as team RWBY and glanced over at Ironwood.

"Can I be honest with you James?"

"Yes?"

"That was terrible." he stated shaking his head slightly.

"Shut up Oz…"

* * *

Morag stood in front of a mirror, her gown pulled as a doctor examined her bandages.

"I'll need to remove them to check on the wound, but the way it looked last night has me curious on what it will look like now." she stated getting a pair of scissors.

"That is fine, I've seen many different wounds from many different beasts, monsters and weapons." Morag replied.

The doctor nodded and began to cut off the dressing's back and slowly peeled the bandage off the front wound. Morag looked over it. A slightly raised, red scar sat on her stomach, that had somehow closed after only around 15 hours. Then Morag almost took a step back after seeing something she'd never had expected. Black veins ran to just off the side of the scar, a shard of a core crystal growing a bit bright then darkening.

 _H-How...? Who...?_ Morag thought, stunned.

* * *

AN: I'm done tests.

So, this chapter was written yesterday and I was going to go through it today at around 4 were I live, and then I found out about the new DLC quests for Xenoblade 2 and that one involved Herald. So I went "Well, time to Xenoblade again to see if there's anything important for her." It requires you to be in chapter 10. My NG+ file was in chapter 7, I bloody had to rush through three chapters and then the quest had you either fight 3 uniques, which I would been fighting for a while because my team is not optimised at all, or do merc missions, one requiring level 5 leaping aka Zenobia. Her leaping was level one...I don't use her!  
Then after all that rushing around, turns out after the scene were the three monsters appears, there isn't anymore blade dialogue.  
But all in all, I did learn something about Herald's rampage, so yeah, long and annoying, but useful.

Also, Ironwood's story...that was bad, partially on purpose and partially because I forgot the original version. My story is hellbent on just making him miserable. Because he's so happy and stable in RWBY normally...

So, next chapter, I've a fun plan for some blade action...also edging closer to that dance...which is going to fun, I hope at least.  
(I genuinely couldn't think of a better chapter name, I tried...the chapter has too many elements to pin down a name, help)  
Review, PM, stuff, yes.

Anyway, enjoy.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter ten: Blade vs Blade

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

Ironwood arrived back at his ship after the...successful meeting with team RWBY and sighed, walking in. As he began to head towards the bridge, he remembered something.

 _Morag's awaken! I should speak to her_.

He changed direction and headed to the ships medical ward. He arrived within a minute and came to room Morag was in. He knocked.

"Come in." he heard Doctor Crimsa yell.

Ironwood entered the room to find Morag standing by a mirror, looking a bit off and the Doctor sorting through some medicine bottles.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Apart from standing rigid over there, fine...too fine. Her wound is mostly healed. It's, creepy to say the least. From what I heard, she shouldn't be able to think straight with pain or walk. From where that injury is, it should have severed her lower spinal cord. She **should** be paralysed from the hip down. But instead, she has a nasty but stable scar and is very surprised, as she should be." Doctor Crimsa explained.

"Huh…" Ironwood walked over to Morag "Hey, how do you feel?"

"Which one…" Morag whispered.

"Which what?"

"Which blade is it from?" she repeated.

"Oh, it's Perun's. Without it, you would have bled to death, and according to the doctor, be paralysed if you survived."

"I'd like to speak with her." Morag turned around.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. KOS-MOS has repeatedly turned me away saying that she's too unstable."

"Well General, she is my Blade, she cannot stop me from seeing her. Now doctor, I presume from what you stated earlier that I am fit enough to leave?" Morag asked.

"Yes, although you shouldn't be, you have healed mostly. I would advise taking these if your wound becomes unbearable, but only a max of three times a day though." she handed Morag a pill bottle "They're painkillers. Strong ones. Also don't go jumping around or fighting. I'm still a bit unsure about that wound."

Morag nodded, taking them.

"Alright, I'll go get you uniform. And I mean your uniform. It's clean." Ironwood walked out of the room.

* * *

Team RWBY plus Nero quickly ran into the classroom, with only two minutes to spare. Ruby sighed.

"Aw yeah, we made it!" she announced happily.

"I'm sorry I delayed everyone. I wasn't sure how to wear this." Nero apologised as she patted down her grey overdress, still feeling a bit uncomfortable with her core being covered and being compressed by the semi-tight dress.

The whole messy scene popped up in Weiss' mind as Nero mentioned it. First, her skirt was actually made of water, the cloudy white faded as it just fell off her hips, making a big puddle and exposing grey thigh shorts. Then she didn't want to take off her jacket, Weiss having to force it off, exposing more of her arms and showing that her markings were quite complex on her upper arms. And finally, having to choose between having her boots be her one allowed modification to the uniform or her jacket. She looked over as Nero refolded the jacket again, obviously wanting to wear it too.

"We made it on time, so it's water under the bridge." Yang shrugged.

As she said that, Professor Oobleck walked into the room, carrying a book under his arm.

"Well then children, due to many of the students from the other academies not choosing my class, you all won't have to suffer through the room being overfilled in order to fit everyone, like what will certainly happen with Peter and Peach, it's most certainly going to be dreadful. Anyway, everyone find a seat, we have a lot to get through like always." Oobleck explained.

RWBY all walked over to the middle rows, with Ruby and Yang sitting next to a blond boy and black haired boy next him and Weiss and Blake sat next to red haired girl and an orange haired girl behind their teammates. Not sure where to sit, Nero followed them and sat behind Weiss, on the top row, next to a boy with brunt orangy/brown hair. He glanced over and stopped at the sight of Nero, a clear expression of confusion on his face. Nero ignored him as Weiss looked back and nodded with a slight smile before turning back. After a few seconds, he leaned over to Nero, who jumped in surprise.

"Hey, what's the deal with you? I thought Atlas raises pompous pricks who're stiff as cardboard. Why do you have facial tattoos?...Or, are some weird primal faunus that has weird, floaty hair?" he asked with a tone of arrogance.

"Faunus?" Nero whispered looking back.

"You know, those beasts that pretend to be human." he pointed to a short boy who had just sat next to Nero.

Nero noticed he had a fluffy fox tail.

"I'm not a faunus. I...simply got dust tattoos that messed with my hair." Nero stated remembering Ironwood's story.

"Huh...hmm, cool." he looked away.

The green haired Professor started his lecture and within ten minutes, Nero was hopelessly lost. He sped around the front of the room, spouting an endless torrent of historic facts and stories.

 _I get the feeling I need the previous material to understand this..._ Nero thought to herself.

She glanced over to the side to see the brunt haired boy making a mix of triangles and balls with paper, before flicking them at Weiss and the red haired girl. Weiss turned around and the boy pointed at Nero. Weiss' face showed she wasn't impressed by his ploy. Nero frown.

 _He's annoying Miss Schnee and Miss red._ Nero looked down and saw a bottle of water that the boy had been drinking from under the desk _Hmm, that will do._

As the boy made more paper debris, Nero pointed to the bottle with her hand under the long desk. She flicked her wrist, the water in the bottle jumping up and moving the bottle. She made it hop under the boy's legs before giving a more violent flick, the manipulated water ripping free from the bottle and splashing the boy's pants.

"Augh!" he yelled jumping up, a watery mark on his crotch and left leg.

Everyone turned and upon seeing him, burst out laughing. His face went completely red.

"Mr Winchester, I would suggest going to changing your clothes and clean up your accident." Oobleck commented taking a slip of coffee.

"What?! No! It's not like that!" he yelled.

"Well, I suggest doing it anyway."

The boy ran out of the room, clearly embarrassed. As the lecture restarted, Nero felt a tap on the shoulder. She turned to the fox boy.

"Cool semblance." he whispered with a smile.

Nero simply smiled back. The Professor continued on from his last point before looking into the crowd of students.

"Now then, does anyone know what dust was used in the prototype grenades used in the Great War that left such devastating scars on the land. Mr Arc, you've been improving of later, do you know?" he asked appearing in front of a blond boy in the front row.

"Emm..." he glanced around "A lot of fire dust?" he suggested with an air of uncertainly.

"Not completely wrong, but far too vague Mr Arc." the boy slumped down in his seat.

 _Grenades are explosive from what he said earlier. Burn dust is most likely was used in great quantity, but what would cause scars on the land? Most likely craters are the scars, what would generate an explosion powerful enough. Burn wouldn't be strong enough in small quantities. Hmm, gravity would add more power behind it, it would even hold those caught in it in place. Maybe them together...do they make a new type together? I'm not sure..._ Nero thought in her head, a puzzled expression on her face.

"You, Atlas student!" Oobleck yelled pointing at Nero.

"Ahh! Y-Yes?"

"You appear to be lost in thought, do you know the answer?"

"Umm, possibly. Burn dust was most likely used due to it's decent explosive properties, but if these explosives were small, they most likely would leak the power to make 'scars'. If mixed with a more unstable, powerful dust like gravity, it would cause a localised field of increase gravity, which would pin victims in place, while also keeping the explosion from both dusts contained, increasing the damage to the land." Nero reasoned.

The Professor looked at her for a few seconds before smiling.

"Not quite unfortunately, although your reasoning is sound. In fact, I believe that would have been significantly more dangerous and deadly, so it would have been use. No, what they actually used..." Nero stopped listening as she heard muttering.

"What she said is crazy." "Why does she know stuff like that?" "I just noticed, what's up with her hair and face?"

Nero glanced around before her shoulders sagged, she felt another tap on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, they always stop after awhile, then they move onto the next thing." the fox boy said.

* * *

Morag stepped out of the medical ware's room and fixed her coat flaps, which were annoyingly ridge from whatever was used to clean it. Her hair was down too, as she lacked any hairpins for it. Ironwood walked over.

"I will admit, it suits you better than white."

"Yes, well, complexion and hair colour is the basis for what colours suit you." she answered back, fixing a glove "Now where's my hat?"

"Perun has it."

"Well then, on we go."

Ironwood lead Morag back to a more familiar side of the ship, a few soldiers looking on in confusion at the sight of Morag. The few that had seen her had told all that asked what happened in...detail. As they arrived at her room, Morag felt a twinge of pain that faded and Ironwood stepped away.

"Once again, KOS-MOS won't let me near her."

Morag knocked on the door and it was opened by Penny, who stepped back in shock.

"M-Morag?! You're up already?" Penny asked.

"Morag?!" she heard Perun yell.

"May I enter?"

Penny nodded and stepped aside, letting her in. KOS-MOS looked out and saw Ironwood, closing the door.

"Why is she so adamant on keeping the General out?" Morag asked offhandedly.

"KOS-MOS thinks he could push her too much and hurt her."

Morag nodded and walked over to Perun, who was quietly sitting on the bed, covering her core. She knelt down, ignoring the pain and lifted away her hand, exposing her flickering core.

"Perun…" she whispered.

"I...didn't know what to do. I didn't want you to die, loss my memories. Herald, Brighid, Aegaeon, Finch, Percevel...all your blades. We'd forget you, Rex, the whole team. I wouldn't be able to help anyone, never finish my bet with Godfrey. It worked with Zeke, so it was worth a shot. How else would you make it back to Alrest to be buried in Tantal with Zeke under that snowdrift?" Perun smiled at the end.

"Ha, yes, I wouldn't be able to have my perfect funeral under Theossir's rear gate." after a few seconds, Morag sighed "Perun, how are you, truly?"

"I...it hurts...constantly. This dust stuff in the air, I can't absorb it properly anymore. My weapon either doesn't form, or is so brittle it shatters from any force. I...had a nightmare too. I was falling into an abyss, I couldn't escape, breath. I just struggled and struggled until I woke up. My body won't listen to me, I buckle and fall if I stand and walking feels like I have to move in weird ways just to make my legs work. I'm just...broken...useless." Morag grabbed her shoulder.

"You are not useless, you saved my life! It's true that there are, side-effects, but together, we can fix this. As you said, it worked with Zeke. Maybe they went through this too, I don't know. All I know is that you are my Blade Perun. A blade of Ardainian Empire, like all my blades!...except Herald, but ignore that. I do not just throw aside those with problems, trust me, Finch would have been gone long ago if I practiced such a horrible act. It may be a long road, one that will have troubles, but you are not alone, after all, myself, Poppi and Herald will help you." as she finished, Perun only nodded, before smiling.

"Heh, to think I thought the Flamebringer would throw me aside because of this, I'm an idiot. But, what is going to happen?"

"I don't know Perun, but I'd like you to stay here for a day or two. Try and get control of your motor functions. If the pain lessens and you can move freely, then there is no worry. But if you fail to improve, then we'll come up with a course of action." Morag stood and turned to Penny and KOS-MOS.

"How about we give her a little peace."

She walked over to the table and grabbed her visored hat. She put it on Perun with a smile before walking out of the room, the two following. Perun lay down on the bed and sighed.

 _Abandon me...what was I thinking. Morag isn't like that, none of them are. She's right, either this fixes itself, or she'll help me fix it. I'm fine...fine._ Perun thought.

Morag stepped out and turned to Ironwood.

"We'll see if she improves on her own, but I believe it is unlikely. I don't have a solution for this." she commented.

"Hmm, well, if she isn't in immediate danger, then I believe the next order of business is the...new Blade we have to deal with."

"What?" Morag turned to him with a deadpan expression.

"Okay, so yeah, you know Winter? Her sister, Weiss, goes to this academy. And supposedly after the fight with Herald, one of her friends found a crystal, showed it to her thinking it was dust, and know she has a Blade...which we are trying to hide."

As Ironwood said this, Morag felt around her belt before remembering that she was back in her old outfit.

"General, was there two satchels on my person when I was injured. Did you see them after I was undressed!"

"No, we were too busy making sure you were alive...wait two?"

"KOS-MOS, this new Blade, I had three core crystals on me when I arrive, then two. Where is the third Core Crystal?!" she yelled.

"What! No, damn it!" Ironwood took out his Scroll "Dispatch a team to the area the Paladin was fought in! Search for an octahedral, opaque gem, do not touch it directly! Use something to pick in up and bag it!" he ordered "I'm not having anymore of these things. Are you certain you had both of them?!"

"Yes, when I last checked, I had two satchels, one in each." Morag said with a nod.

"Great, now I have to turn Vale upside down to find that."

"Well, this new Blade, has the Driver attempted to fight with it?"

"I don't think so…"

"Well, after the school day is over, it is on today yes?" Ironwood nodded "I'd like to met with her and Penny to come along too." Morag said.

"Why?" Penny asked.

"Well, Drivers should practice and fight with their Blades. Get used to fighting together and build some trust between each other."

Ironwood sighed.

"Also, I wish to met this new Blade myself."

"I guess I see your point. I'll ask Ozpin if it's okay and if so, what her last class is." Ironwood began to type on his Scroll.

* * *

Team RWBY plus Nero finally escaped Professor Port's room, the majority of the students having cleared away from the door.

"That was crazy!" Ruby yelled.

"Indeed, the room had too many people in it Miss Rose, it was ridiculous." Nero commented as they all stopped suddenly.

Looking forward, there was an odd woman standing opposite the classroom door. She wore an odd military outfit that had metal clipped to her hips and to her left shoulder. She wore greeves as well. She messed with her free black, shoulder length hair that she clearly didn't like down judging by her constant fiddling. She looked up and her eyes fixed on Nero, before walking over.

"Miss Weiss Schnee?" she asked to the group.

"Yes?" Weiss answered stepping forward.

"I am Inq-, Morag Ladair. I am an acquaintance of General Ironwood. I would like you and your companion to come with me." Morag gestured to Nero.

"Hmm? Did something happened?" Ruby asked.

"No, it is just, the General wishes to speak to the two of them." he answered.

"Oh, okay. Well, see you later Ice queen." Yang waved her off, turning to leave.

"Hey!"

Morag gave a slight smile before turning away, walking off. Weiss and Nero ran after her.

"Hey, have met her before?" Ruby asked as they left.

"She showed up to fight Herald." Blake said.

"Oh yeah...her new outfit looks cooler."

Weiss, Nero and Morag walked deeper into Beacon, towards the training hall.

"Umm, Miss Ladair, where are we going?" Nero asked.

"To the training hall. I'm afraid to say I lied to you two. I know what your friend is, just from her hair and markings."

"Wait, you know about all of that?" Weiss asked.

"Yes, I know a fair deal about Core Crystals and Blades."

The three entered the training hall and Weiss was surprised to see Penny standing there too, along with a tall, blue haired woman in a metallic bodysuit. Penny waved at them all.

"Hello friend!"

Weiss then noticed the woman next to her had a gem in her chest too.

"Well then. Weiss, may I ask if you have used…" Morag looked over at Nero.

"My name is Nero." she said.

"Nero's weapon?" she finished.

"Umm, her whip? No, that's hers isn't it?" Weiss asked.

"Technically yes, but we can use them too. And we can do really cool Arts! KOS-MOS' weapon is an ether cannon." Penny announced as KOS-MOS summoned a large golden cannon-like weapon and handed it to Penny "You can use them like this."

Penny aimed the cannon away from everyone as KOS-MOS produced a rope of light to Penny from her gem.

"Blowback pulse!" she yelled as the barrel of the weapon wided, firing a large bullet of energy that exploded into an orb a few metres away, the shock wave hitting everyone slightly.

Nero noticed Morag wince as it did, gripping her stomach for a second.

"Huh." Weiss was speechless.

"I wish to have both of you train and practice here with each other as often as possible. If you cannot come, please contact Professor Ozpin so he can tell me."

"How do you know about Blades?" Weiss asked.

"I've had experience with them."

"But Mr Ironwood said our cores are from another dimension or something."

"Do you know when they appeared?" Morag asked.

"No…" Morag smiled at the response.

"Now then, today, I'd like to see what KOS-MOS and Nero are capable of alone. Blades and their weapons are stronger when together with their Drivers, but with both of you inexperienced, I'd like to see how strong they naturally are."

"Well, time to get out of this then." Nero said with a smile as she pulled off her dress and undershirt, exposing her grey top and core.

She undid her skirt and placed her hands on her hips, a small pulse of water coming from under her shorts, reforming her water skirt, the white cloudiness returning. She threw on her jacket.

"Much better." She beamed at her freedom from the uniform.

"Nero, you can't just throw your uniform aside like that, it will get dirty." Weiss scowled picking up the pieces.

"Sorry Miss Schnee."

"Now then, KOS-MOS?" Penny handed her the ether cannon "Nero?" Nero generated her whip, extending it out with a lash.

Everyone stepped to the side of the room.

"Hold nothing back, begin!"

KOS-MOS instantly aimed the her cannon at Nero, firing small, quick shots. Nero smiled and with fast sweeps of her arm, her whip's rope and head swatted the shots out of the air before they could reach her, before charging at KOS-MOS dodging two more. Nero swung rapidly, KOS-MOS dodging the whip's bladed spike and watery rope. As she aimed again, Nero placed her free hand on her skirt, ripping a chunk of water off it, flinging the water at KOS-MOS. Not expecting it, the water splashed her eyes, the cloudiness blinding her. Nero used the opportunity to wrap her whip around her leg with a single lash, using it to fling and throw her around and slam KOS-MOS into the ground. Her hardlight armour shattered from the impacts before Nero pulled back, the whip unraveling from her leg and pulling KOS-MOS to her. THe whip retracted into its handle and Nero stabbed forward, impaling KOS-MOS with the spike in the stomach, following up with smashing her into the ground. Penny and Weiss both looked on in horror. KOS-MOS looked unfazed.

"You have made an error." she stated.

Nero raised an eyebrow as KOS-MOS' cannon disappeared, her arm replaced by a gun. She pointed in Nero's face and fire, Nero screaming in agony holding her face.

"It is unwise to get too close to an unknown enemy." KOS-MOS stood up and ripped the whip out of her, throwing it to Nero, how caught it, exposing her burned face.

Both Blade's wounds quickly healed, the stab wound closing and the burn fading. Nero grimaced.

 _I need to be careful_

KOS-MOS resummoned her ether cannon and began her barrage anew, not giving Nero a chance to dodge, only block with her whip. Nero jumped to the side and ran along the outside of the training room, the shots trailing just behind her. She lashed her whip, KOS-MOS dodging with easy. Nero switched to a reverse grip, doing a quick uppercut motion, her whip following with a crack in the air. The bladed spike slashed her side, Nero flipping it back to a normal grip and attacked with a figure of eight pattern, the whip slashing her repeatedly. KOS-MOS' visor flipped down over her eyes as she blocked the whip with her shield, the whip's head bouncing off. KOS-MOS summoned a second ether cannon.

"Energy output increased to 75%, launching heavy barrage."

Both cannons began firing, the sides venting energy to stop them overheating. Nero used her shield to block it, but the shots quickly weakened it before it shattered. The energy bullets shot through Nero, burning or blowing shallow holes in her. She fell to one knee.

"Sorry Miss KOS-MOS, I'm not done yet." Nero smiled as her wounds healed.

A blue aura surrounded her before pulled off all the water from her skirt, more spilling out from her hips. It completely engulfed both her arms, the water forming tentacle-like arms.

"Let us see you handle this?" she smirked before striking KOS-MOS blindingly fast with her right arm.

She attacked swiftly with both arms twice more, throwing her into the wall before jumping into the air, firing the tentacles as a torrent of water, embedding KOS-MOS deeper into the wall. Nero landed, smiling, before stumbling, exhausted. KOS-MOS pried herself free, aimed her ether cannon and shot out Nero's knees, who then collapsed. Weiss ran over.

"Nero?! Are you alright?" she asked, worried.

"Yes Miss Schnee...sorry." she jumped to her feet as her knees healed "I expended a bit too much energy…"

"You used 50% more energy than required for your blade art. I am guessing that it was your Lv three art. Be more conservative with your energy. There is no ether, only dust, and it is more inefficient." KOS-MOS advised.

"Really, this is dust I've been using? It feels no different from how my core remembers ether." Nero said.

"Impressive. Even without Drivers, that level of control and power was quite good. Tomorrow, if you are able, I would like you all to come here to actually practice with your weapons. I would suggest coming in more combat oriented attire." Morag stated as she walked over.

"How does that even work?" Weiss asked, confused.

"It's simple Miss Schnee. You use my ether whip to attack, I supply you with energy through affinity, and protect you as we fight." Nero handed Weiss her whip and formed a rope of energy from her core to Weiss.

She froze up as she did.

"H-Hey, s-stop that! It feels weird!" Weiss ordered.

The affinity broke, and Nero smiled.

"You'll get used to it.

"You really will." Penny added.

"Anyway, this was just for me to met you two, you may return to your team. I hope to see you tomorrow." Morag said with a slight bow and a wince.

"Okay, bye then." Weiss whispered uneasily, leaving with Nero.

"I think she's a bit overwhelmed."

"Well, this is all very sudden." Penny commented.

* * *

Poppi stepped into the elevator to Ozpin's office and pressed the top button, and after a few seconds, it closed and began to ascend. It opened to Ozpin and Ironwood talking. She stepped out and walked over. Ironwood turned to her.

"There you are, I've been wonder where you wandered off to." he said turning back.

"Poppi was in big library, Ironman, Poppi have important question."

"Yes."

"When Poppi and friends appeared, Ironman explain Grimm, but Poppi know that not whole story."

"What are you talking about?" Ironwood asked, concerned.

"Poppi noticed Ironman react stiffly when talking about meanies. Small, Poppi barely notice. But KOS-MOS see too. Meant to ask earlier, but got distracted."

"Poppi, I'm certain James explained everything to you all. You probably where on edge after your ordeal." Ozpin answered calmly.

"Mr Professor better at hiding, but Poppi know that lie. Tone too calm, controlled. Ozpin hiding something too. Ironman react weird when he say they have no leader. Poppi not idiot. Masterpon install best observation upgrade with qtπ form and also lie detector so he not be scammed as often. Poppi know something is hiding." she stated, a serious expression on her face "Big secret if friends try so hard to hide. Poppi not push it, Poppi not force people to tell secret. But Poppi know something is hidden. Hope you can tell later, bye-bye." Poppi stepped back into the lift and it closed.

"I hate, everything." Ironwood breath.

"Well, at least she won't push for answers." Ozpin chuckled.

Ironwood just shook his head.

* * *

AN: Hello, sorry for the wait. My job needed me to come in a week early due to some stuff. It delayed me.  
As well as rewriting a few parts of this that increased it's length by like, a 1000 words.

So, yeah, this got delayed a bit, as well as being a bit longer then normal. What also didn't help was having to look up a bit of whip combat because I forgot how it worked due to not seeing it for like three years. Also it's so bloody hot here, I hate it. If the plot of Frostpunk happened I would not care, I love the cold.

Anyway, remember the thing in chapter 5 with the core and what Poppi noticed in chapter 3?  
Also, the fight? I just really wanted KOS-MOS and Nero to fight, so why not against each other.

Review, PM, assorted random words I put after that.  
Anyway, enjoy.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter eleven: Sicking solution and alarming reveal

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

Nero was not having a good few days. After her first appearance in Oobleck's class, rumours spread around the school of an Atlas student with glowing dust tattoos and weird floating hair. Despite what the fox boy said, they didn't die out, in fact, they only increased. What didn't help was how Weiss was being dragged into it all too. Since Nero followed RWBY everywhere, especially Weiss, people started to think she was some servant of Weiss who came to the school to look after her. The Professors attempted to stamp out the rumours, Port and Oobleck because of how some were starting to become quite ridiculous or hurtful, and Glynda because of what she knew. The Beacon and Shade academy students took the hint and stopped, and Haven didn't seen to care in the first place but the Atlas students couldn't seem to let it go. That was, until Ironwood stepped in. When faced with the General, most students went quite, the few remaining talked exclusively in secret. Nero hated the trouble she was causing everyone.

* * *

In the training hall, Weiss continued to try and use Nero's whip. Even though she had been attempting the last three days, she was making little progress. She held the ether whip level to her head and lashed it with a snap of her wrist, Nero grimacing from her technique. After another minute, she couldn't take it and stepped up behind her and took the whip.

"Miss Schnee, umm, that's not how you use a whip…" she reluctantly said, Weiss becoming visible agitated.

"Uwhh! Then how do you use it? That one movie Yang made us watch had a cowboy using his to disarm people like that."

"From that description, that was a lasso, they aren't the same thing." Nero did wide, fast sweeps with the whip "If you are too close to your opponent, then wide sweeps can trip them up, but…" Nero turned to a mannequin and did an over the head chop, the whip's rope following before the bladed spike embedded itself in its head.

"My whip is meant to hurt and harm, not disarm." she pulled the whip back and lashed it forward, the whip wrapping around its arm, before pulling back again and tearing its arm off "Although it can do that if you wish." she finished.

Weiss frowned and looked over at Penny and KOS-MOS. She was firing her cannon, trying to get the hang of the aiming.

"Penny's weapon looks easier to use." she commented.

"An ether cannon is powerful, but relies on accuracy. It may not require an advanced technique, but if you're bad at aiming, then it's useless." Morag stated walking over.

"It's just, I've always used a rapier, practiced fencing. It requires quick, precise stabs, strikes, and the occasional slash. This whip is so, different."

Nero placed her palm on the bottom of her whip, the watery rope, retracting into the handle until it was only a third of its length. She swiped from left to right, the blade responding faster to her movement.

"Miss Schnee, if you are having trouble due to its length, then this may help. Try using it like this. It has a shorter range, but is more like a flexible, short bladed weapon. When you get use to it, then I can extend it, then extend it again until you are used to using its fully two metres." Nero suggested.

"Hmm, this looks more manageable."

After a few fast slashes, the whip's spike slashing two feet in front of her, Weiss' Scroll went off, an alarm to tell when they had to finish.

"Well, we can try this tomorrow, come on Nero, we have homework to finish." Weiss reminded Nero, handing her her whip.

"But I already finished all the of the dust theory for tomorrow. I red that book you gave me too." Nero replied, crossing her arms.

"What about your history?"

"I...don't understand most of that…"

"Then I'll help you." The two left talking, Morag sighing.

 _Now then, I need to go check on Perun's condition, it's been semi-stable the last few days, hopef-_ something crashing onto the ground made her turn, interrupting her thought.

Penny was looking sheepishly at a charred mannequin, riddled with holes.

"This thing can be quite a bit more powerful than you think…" she whispered.

"Master, you pressed the vent trigger." KOS-MOS said shaking her head.

 _I wonder if the Headmaster will be annoyed?_ Morag asked herself as she stared at the two broken mannequins.

* * *

As Nero and Weiss walked towards the exit to the training halls, Weiss heard someone call her. They turned to see Professor Port walking after them.

"Miss Schnee, just the person I was looking for."

"Yes Professor Port, what do you need?" she asked.

"As you may know, the dance is next Sunday, with team CFVY leading the charge with the organization of the event. But unfortunately, their away mission is taking a bit longer than planned."

"How much longer?" Weiss asked.

"Around five days, they will most likely miss the dance, and the preparations are not finished. So, I would like to ask you to finish preparing it. Bring a bit of Schnee class to it."

"That sounds like fun Miss Schn-gah!" Nero was interrupted by someone suddenly using both herself and Weiss as arm rests.

"Oh, sounds fun. I'll help too." Yang said, leaning on both of them smiling.

"M-Miss Xion Long, p-please get off me! You smell horrible!" Nero gasped, the smell of sweat coming off her.

"What? Oh, I just finished my workout and overheard, sorry." Yang got off both of them.

"Anyway Yang, myself and Ne-" "An excellent idea!" Port interrupted Weiss.

"Miss Schnee can bring class and Miss Xion Long can bring fun to the dance!"

"Hey!" Weiss yelled.

"The venue Miss Scarlatina picked was Beacon's ballroom, as you might have guessed. I would check on the progress they made before their mission. Well, happy planning." Port finished, walking off.

"Yang, he asked m-" "Give me ten minutes and we'll all head over to check tonight." Yang cut her off, running into the changing room.

"Don't worry Miss Schnee, she probably won't be too extreme." Weiss' face deadpanned "Right?" Nero finished, nervously.

* * *

Perun staggered around her room, finally getting her coordination back after several days of practice. She sat down on the bed, her growing exhaustion from her inability to absorb the dust in the air slowly growing worse. She sighed.

"This is bad...if I can't fix this problem, I might…" she shook her head "No, stop that Perun! This could be worse."

Perun closed her eyes, focusing on her core, the dull pain flaring up as she did. She attempted to absorb the dust, only to find the pain worsening to the point she had to stop and began gasping, the pain unbearable. She punched the bed.

 _Damn it! Why won't it work!?_

She heard the door open and Poppi wandered in, a smile across her face.

"Perun, Poppi have idea." she smiled transforming into her alpha form.

She grabbed her side belt that she had taken off her qtπ form when she had changed into the Atlas uniform. She opened a satchel and took out a container.

"Friend said could not absorb energy from air, but Poppi remember function that can help."

Poppi's chest opened up, exposing her ether furnace, two ports visible. She plugged the container into one.

"Poppi not use a lot of ether lately, so Poppi drain extra ether for Perun. Cannot make too many many, but maybe it help." she explained unhooking the container, now glowing greeny yellow.

"Poppi, are you sure that's okay?"

Poppi nodded as she hooked up a second, handing Perun the first.

"How do I…?" Poppi walked over and grabbed Perun's hand, shoving the container to her mouth.

Perun swallowed a bit before pushing her back, coughing and spluttering.

"P-Poppi! Don't do that! You could have just said drink it." Perun scowled.

Poppi looked dejected.

"Meh...sorry, Poppi just trying to help."

Perun sighed, looking at the ether.

 _It may help...a bit. I don't think you're meant to drink ether though._

Perun looked over at Poppi, who had a wide eyed stare, waiting. Perun inhaled sharply and drank some of the ether...and instantly lurched forward, nearly vomiting.

"T-That was revolting!" Perun coughed, clutching her stomach.

After a few seconds, it died down and she actually felt a little better. A little. Poppi continued to stare, rocking on her heels as she undid the second container. Perun forced the rest down, clearly disgusted.

"Does friend feel better?" Poppi asked.

After a few seconds, Perun nodded, too sicked to speak. Her exhaustion lessened after another few seconds, but her sickened stomach hung around. Then they heard the door open as Morag stepped in, raising an eyebrow at the scene in front of her.

"What is going on here?" she asked.

"Poppi wish to help friend, so Poppi give spare ether from ether furnace."

"Hmm, well, did it help?" Morag asked, curious.

"Somewhat…(gah)...it isn't a final, or perfect solution, it tastes terrible…" Perun whispered, grimacing "Oh Architect...I'm gonna vomit!" she finished, holding her mouth.

"I don't think this will work Poppi."

"I-I'm okay...it's fading…" Perun added "If I can get past that part, it actually helps."

"Maybe making Perun's tummy sad bad solution…" Poppi wondered spinning the second ether container in her hand.

Perun staggered to her feet, her nausea fading completely. She walked over uneasily.

"Morag, if this removes my inability to produce energy from my current condition, then I belief it is worth it. I can walk...mostly and if I only have to drink one or two a day, then I'll take it over sitting here fading away."

"Poppi think only have enough of one bottle a day, extra ether came from Poppi not doing much."

"Perun, (sigh), I won't stop you from drinking these" she grabbed the container "but if they start to negatively affect you, apart from the near vomiting, then stop, understood?"

Perun nodded as Morag handed her the container.

"Now, what about your weapon?"

Perun didn't answer, only looking away.

"Please try." Morag asked.

Perun pulled out a weapon core, it was missing part of itself. She formed her megalance, the ice melting and the weapon decolouring, becoming brittle. She snapped it's shaft with ease.

"My weapon is broken...no matter how much I try, it just...fails."

"May I see?"

Perun generated another weapon core and handed it to Morag. Examining it, it seemed to flicker in a similar frequency to Perun's core. As she held it, her wound began emit a bit of pain, but as it did, the core's flickering stopped. After another few seconds, Morag attempted to summon the lance. The weapon formed, the head's ice melting briefly before stopping, slowly reforming.

"Well, this is unexpec-" she suddenly fell forward, the pain worsening before disappearing.

She blinked twice, using the lance to balance. Poppi waved her arms excitedly.

"Weapon not break! Poppi surprised!"

Morag stood up straight, looking at Poppi.

"Poppi, your shield please."

Poppi summoned her shield and Morag stroke it full force, the ice cracking before reharding.

"There is a bit of a weakness to it, but…" Morag folded the weapon up and clipped it to her back "I believe it is serviceable."

"What did you do?" Perun asked, shocked.

"I don't know, but we should take it as a good sign. Now, I need to report to the General about Weiss and Penny's practice. Perun, do you wish to come and get out of this room?"

"Yes." she stepped forward, her knees wobbling.

Morag grabbed her hand.

"Allow me to help."

"Poppi will hold other hand." Poppi added turning back into her qtπ form, grabbing the other.

"Thanks, both of you." Perun smiled.

* * *

Team RWBY and Nero sat in the seating area of the sparring arena. Professor Goodwitch walked, her usually semi-frown on her face. She looked around the room.

"Well children, I hope you are all ready, because unless anyone wishes to spar with another, I will be choosing combatants." she announced.

Several groups all began to mutter amongest themselves. After a minute, a boy stood up.

"Yes Mr Winchester? Is there someone you wish to spar with?" Glynda asked.

"Yeah, I'd like to fight...her." he pointed at Nero, who looked surprised.

"Me?"

"Yeah, I want a bit of playback for my 'accident'" he stated with an annoyed smirk.

 _He knew it was me that splashed him? Well, Mr Fox saw me...so it's possible. I should have been more careful._ Nero thought.

"Mr Winchester, are you sure you want to fight-" "Yeah, I'm certain." he cut her off, Glynda becoming visibly annoyed.

"All right…" she said, unsure.

"Be careful Nero." Weiss warned.

Nero nodded. As her opponent left to get his weapon, Nero simply jumped over the ledge, into the arena. She walked over to Glynda, spinning her unextended whip on a single finger. Glynda walked over and leaned in close to her.

"Please refrain from using anything that-" Nero generated her water skirt mid-sentence "will attract attention…" she finished.

Instantly, the students began whisper and chatter.

"Woah, that's cool!" "How'd she do that?" "She probably has dust in her shorts." "She really likes dust, it's in her clothes and skin?"

Glynda silenced everyone with a snap of her crop. Nero spotted Weiss facepalming. She laughed nervously as the boy came out of a tunnel off to the side, mace in hand. She extended her whip as she smirked.

"I hope you're ready girl."

"I am Mr Winchester, show me how you fight."

"Let the match between Nero and Cardin begin!"

Cardin rushed her as soon as Glynda finished, swinging his mace at Nero with surprising speed. Nero ducked under it and rolled to the side, dodging a downward smash. She leapt back a few feet and began to swing her whip rapidly, Cardin barely dodging the slashing spike head. She did a twirl and snapped her at his foot, the watery rope wrapping around his ankle. Nero pulled back and tripped Cardin up, dragging him across the ground before using her whip to throw him across the room. He hit the ground and skid across it before jumping to his feet. He looked unamused.

"Huh, that all you got? Throwing me around?" he laughed, clearly unimpressed.

Nero answered with quick alternating vertical attacks, her whip's blade slashing Cardin repeatedly, his aura blocking the attacks. He charged Nero, who found her attacks became increasingly harder to land due to how long her rope was. He tanked another few attacks before commencing his assault. He swung hard and fast, almost wildly, lacking any strategy other then attack. Nero pulled her whip back and avoided his swings, blocking a few with her whip's handle. She wished to use her shield, but Glynda had asked her not to use any of her abilities. Nero couldn't get far enough away to even catch a break. Finally, Cardin hit his mark, his mace striking Nero square in the cheek, blade first. The force sent her flying, a soft crack coming from the impact point. Nero spun in the air and landed, holding her face.

 _He cracked my cheek bone! Ow..._

Nero barely had time to nurse it as Cardin chased her down, still swinging wildly. Nero blocked an attack with her whip's spike, sparks flying.

"I don't have to use it as a whip you know?"

Cardin glanced down at her as she pushed him back and slashed his chestplate with her unextended whip, her surprise attack cutting the metal. She smiled as her cheek healed. Cardin, enraged, lashed out at her, grabbing her hair.

"H-Hey! Let go!" as Nero yelled as Cardin pulled her back and let go.

He took the chance he made and swung his mace at her shoulder, a visceral crunch echoing through the arena as he shattered her shoulder and collarbone, Nero staggering back screaming. The whole student audience gasped at the sound, Weiss almost jumping out of her seat. Cardin wasn't finished though, he ran in to attack again, ignoring Glynda ordering him to stop. He swung again, but was surprised by what Nero did.

She blocked it...with her hand.

The force made the mace's blade dig into her hand, the sudden stop making Cardin flinch. She glared at him, her pupilless purple eyes unnerving him.

"Cardin...I would advise you not to underestimate your opponents…" she growled, an empty smile creeping across her face.

"W-What t-the...how…? Your shoulder…?" he whispered.

"What, this? It's just pain...I've the fortitude to endure that." she laughed dryly.

Cardin stepped back, Nero's sudden change creeping him out. The mace was left in her hand, her crippled shoulder healing enough to enable her to rip it free. She threw it aside as Cardin backed away from her.

"Well, shall we continue Mr Winchester?" she asked, her face and expression returning to normal.

To emphasise the point, she aimed her whip at him, the spike launching out of the handle, slashing his cheek and embedding itself in the wall a metre behind him. Cardin swallowed, before sprinting over to his mace and running out of the arena. Nero sighed before wincing, her shoulder flaring up with pain as it healed.

"Well, I believe the winner of this match is Nero. I would suggest going to the nurse's office to get your shoulder checked though." Glynda added with sideways glare.

Nero nodded as Weiss stood up and raised her hand.

"Yes Miss Schnee?"

"May I go with her to make sure she's okay?" Weiss asked.

"Of course. Make sure she makes it there safe."

Weiss jumped down and joined Nero as she left, more chattering coming from the students. A mix of worry, adoration and a hint of fear spread around the room from Nero's display of tranquil fury. Weiss sighed as she heard Glynda ask for another fighter and a boy's voice asked to fight Pyrrha. She turned to Nero.

"Are you okay?!" she asked, worried.

"Don't worry Miss Schnee, my bones will be healed soon, sorry to trouble you."

"N-No...it's fine…"

 _That sudden change...it was...frightening. I need to ask her about that._ Weiss thought as she lead Nero back to her dorm instead of the infirmary, so she could heal in peace...and secret.

* * *

AN: Hello, sorry for the delay, my computer is misbehaving. Or for a better explanation, it crapped out on me. I'm **trying** to use my college to write this stuff, but it's not very good.

I'll be going away next week for two weeks and the internet used to be too bad in the pace I stayed to upload anything, but they supposedly improved it, so it may not matter.  
Also, there was a lot of XC2 stuff at E3 and the challenge mode came out with some...interesting characters. The part I really like was the costumes though. Disguised Pyra and Morag in a white uniform, which was weird with how I had Morag wear an Atlas uniform...yeah. I like Pyra style Mythra too.

As for this chapter, it was meant to be a bit longer, but next chapter would be very short, so I cut off a bit from this chapter so I could make the next longer, sorry.  
If you have any questions, PM, review, stuff like that, I'll answer as soon as I can.  
Finally, that chapter name? I couldn't decide which to use, so I mushed the two together, yeah...I need t get better at naming stuff.

Anyway, enjoy


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve: I'll protect you...forever

 _Italics= character thoughts_

 **Warning: The beginning of this chapter my be uncomfortable for some people, so, here's some warning.**

* * *

Upon reaching RWBY's dorm, Weiss forced Nero's jacket off her, wishing to check her shoulder. She was met with a bruised, somewhat distorted shoulder. It didn't look right, but it didn't appear as bad as it should have. As Nero's bruise faded and the bone mended and reformed, Weiss had to look away from her, the shifting sight making her ill. Nero laughed.

"I told you it won't look nice Miss Schnee."

"I needed to make sure that you were actually alright. Uhh, doesn't that hurt?" Weiss asked.

"Yes, but it isn't as bad a you'd think. It's almost done anyway." Nero put her jacket back on before sighing "Miss Schnee, now that we are alone...my I ask...about your family again? I understand if you wish to not to, you just said we'd talk about it later." Nero asked, already regretting the question as Weiss' worried frown seemed to shift to one mixed with...sorrow.

"I...no...you will learn about my family eventually, especially if you read or look up enough about dust. I should tell you about them, before you find out yourself and...grow to hate me." Weiss whispered.

"Miss Schnee, I would never hate you! You are my Driver and fri...yes, friend!" Nero yelled.

Weiss let out a rueful laugh, her eyes downcast.

"My family's company was founded by my grandfather, Nicholas Schnee. He traveled the world looking for dust deposits, leading the charge with his years in Mantle's old combat academy with a small team of old friends and hired workers. He wanted to make the Schnee name mean something, something good. And he did. The company grew, slowly and steadily, bringing much needed dust back to the newly named Atlas. He fought off Grimm and brigand alike, beside his workers, and the world saw him as a man you could trust." Weiss smiled as she explained, clearly happy to talk about her grandfather.

"But, then everything started to fall apart. He had gotten married along the way, and had had my mother. Both wished for him to come home more and stay home, and unfortunately they got their wish. He was a dust miner when he was younger, and still spent so much time in them. His body...mostly his lungs, started to fail."

"Dust has negative effects on the body if injected into you, but he was inhaling it for years Miss Schnee. The dust most likely ate away at Mr Schnee's lungs." Nero commented.

"Yep, soon he went from sprinting through mines to staggering behind everyone, coughing up blood. The miners had to beg him to stop before he killed himself. He was always more on the active side, but within a year of stopping, he was bedridden. My mother had gotten married to my father and he was a good businessman. He'd taken my mother's name to keep the Schnee name going and asked to be put in charge of the company, claiming that he would do him proud. He was in no position to argue. Grandfather had not taken part in the running of the actual business side of the company for years. My father took over and for the first year, everything was fine." Weiss' expression darkened "Then he died."

"After that, he changed. Suddenly, many of the human workers and miners were replaced by faunus...despite faunus. Working conditions became hellish, machinery wasn't ever replaced or fixed. The mines became death traps! And how much lien did they make? Anywhere between five to zero per hour. It depended on if my father had paid to ship them across the world from Menagerie or if you came from Vacuo. The company grew fast and strong, but went from being loved and trusted to hated and despised. But we own 90% of all dust in the world, people couldn't complain."

"That sounds inhuman…"

"Yes, but not infaunus according to my father. Soon, the white fang set their eyes on the Schnee company. Despite the Atlasian government forcing my father to stop the use of practically slave labour...everyone knows he just reduced it, and the white fang wanted to make my father suffer. They stole trains worth of dust and robbed shops, my father growing more angry by the day. When he was angry, he wasn't...pleasant. Winter joined the military to run away, I'm sure of that. My mother just shut down...wine making her life so much easier...she just stopped reacting to anything he did. Whitley was his perfect little boy. So, I was the only one left. He said he needed to vent his anger...can't have the board see him like that...he needed to be calm…! Calm, calm, calmcalmcalm!" Weiss began shouting gripping her arms, tears flowing down her face, shaking.

Nero lent over grabbed her, pulling her into a hug. She began struggling, but after a few seconds stopped and Weiss continued shaking, repeating the word 'calm' over and over. She eventually stopped, but continued to cry. After another minute, she broke away.

"I...I'm s-sorry. That was...I…" Nero pulled her back into a hug.

"Weiss...no matter what happened, know that I am your Blade. No matter what, I'll never leave you. I'll protect you, he will **never** hurt you again...ever." Nero's voice was stern and threatening.

"Did...you call me Weiss?" she asked, surprised.

"Hmm...oh! I'm sorry Miss Schnee! It was a slip of the tongue." Nero apologised, embarrassed.

"Heh, you know...you don't have to be so formal. At least with me. And to finish...when I become a huntress, I'm going to take back the Schnee company, and restore it back to glory. I'd love...if you would help me, Nero."

Nero looked shocked before nodding.

"All right...Weiss." Nero smiled "I'll protect you from all the Grimm while you help in the mines, and from your father." she whispered the last part.

"What?! I can't be running around in the mines!"

"Well, I'll do that then. The dust won't effect me that much."

"No, you can't do all the work!-"

Both began to argue over who'd do what as RBY walked up to the door and heard yelling.

"Let's go to the library…" Ruby suggested.

"Yeah, I need to do research about the white fang anyway…" Blake added, rubbing an exhausted eye.

"Actually Blake…" Yang began

* * *

"Ironman! Poppi and friends here to talk to you." Poppi burst onto the bridge of the Atlas airship, causing several soldiers to jump back.

Ironwood sighed before turning to them, surprised to see Perun between Poppi and Morag, standing on shaky legs.

"Huh, so, feeling better?" he asked her.

"Y-Yeah, a bit. I'm still a bit unstable."

"Well, your better then you were, and any improvement from before is for the better. So, what do you three want?"

"Well General, I came to report about your two Drivers." Morag answered, hands behind her.

"Ahh...so, how are they?"

"Penny and KOS-MOS are getting along nicely, Penny's accuracy has been improving. Weiss is having some trouble, which is to be expected for a fencer who is suddenly trying to learn how to use a whip. Reminds me of when I was learning the whip part of Brighid's weapon." Morag stated.

"Oh, Poppi remember story Brighid told. Friend's legs got all tangly in sword-whip and trip over. Brighid had to get maid to undo." Poppi chuckled.

"Yes...that...anyway, they appear to have figured out a compromise, so it should be fine." Morag added, trying to quickly move past that.

"Okay, everything is fine, good. So, are you going to the dance on Sunday?" he asked offhandedly.

"I wasn't planning to, I'm not good at that kind of thing. I may go and watch, but I'm not dancing."

"Poppi want to go! Poppi want to show off dance protocol." she announced before breaking into her dance she used to do with Tora whenever the group lingered somewhere too long.

"Morag and Poppi, sure, Perun, maybe sit it out for some rest and Herald...definitely no."

"I wasn't planning on going." Perun whispered.

"Oh, and one last thing, Dr Polendina has finally started trying to repeat Professor Nightingale's dust experiment. Maybe he'll figure out how to fix your situation." Ironwood said.

"Or bring more friends to Remnant."

"Hopefully not that."

* * *

 **Atlas dust research center**

Dr Polendina stood in a reinforced metal safe room in a testing chamber, 2 feet of reinforced glass in front of him. He silently watched a vat of mixing dust.

 _So, after a bit of balancing, the vat hasn't exploded yet. Hmm, Lyon...you sure left me with a stupid mystery. If this stuff can somehow distort space enough to lead to an alternative reality, then if I recreate it, all I need to do is somehow reverse whatever the hell dragged them through to send them back…_

"How the hell do I do that?" he asked himself.

As he continued to wonder, the vat's dust began to glow slightly, the vat beginning to warp.

"Well, guess I'll need to rework the amounts more." he added noticing the warping.

* * *

 **Corpse of Mor Ardian, Alrest**

Nia trekked across the dead titan's wastes just outside the ruins of the city, the air still boiling hot from escaping steam. Soon she spotted her, standing on the edge of the stagnant ether mine.

"Brighid…" Nia whispered as she approached.

The jewel of the empire turned slightly before returning to the hole in the ground.

"Ya can't keep coming back here, the titan's falling apart. You could fall into a fissure or somethin'" Nia warned.

"Lady Morag...whenever I try to follow our resonance, it leads here and then...stops. She has to be here…" Brighid stated, just like the two other times Niall asked someone to bring her back.

"Yeah, we know, but you just standing here, she's not just gonna pop outta nowhere."

"I know…"

After a minute of silence, the sound of running made Nia turn, a blond blade running over.

"Hey, you two! |Can we like, leave soon. It is way too hot for me." Kora lemented, fanning herself with her hand.

Brighid sigh, but before she turned to leave, she noticed something. The gooey, purple, stagnant ether had started to...bubble, a weak light barely escaping. Then the whole titan began to shake, rapidly increasing in magnitude.

"Waaah! Great! Now what!" Kora yelled as the ground cracked.

"W-We need to leave, now! I think the titan finally shaking itself apart!" Nia guessed.

Brighid took a step away from hole, but as she did, large chunks of rock began to break away, falling into the hole, with Brighid on one. Nia went wide eyed.

"Brighid!" Nia ran back over to her grabbed her hand as she fell, her weight nearly pulling Nia off the ledge she was now struggling to stand on.

"N-Nia! Let go! You'll fall!"

"No way, not happeni-" the rock below her crumpled mid sentence.

Nia summoned her catalyst scimitar and drove it into the shaking wall, stopping them.

"See, not falling." Nia joked before sighing.

"Nia, Brighid!" Kora yelled looking over the edge.

"Kora, go get Dromarch and Zenobia, quickly!"

As she did though, the quake grew even worse, the scimitar beginning to shake loose. Kora didn't even get to turn away before the scimitar broke free, the cliff face collapsing. Kora summoned her large knuckle and jumped over the edge, grabbing Nia's wrist just as the started to fall again. With her other hand, she punched the wall, digging into it, but not as deep as Nia had. The weapon immediately began to slip out the impact hole.

"Well, maybe that wasn't my best" the knuckle slid out "idea…"

"Yeeeeaaaaaa" Nia yelled as they all fell into the sludge, the viscus ether pulling them under.

In the sea of purple, Nia swore she could feel something pulling them down, deeper in. But as it grew stronger, her consciousness faded.

* * *

 **Atlas dust research center**

The vat, which had been slowly deforming, finally exploded, but with only enough force to destroy the metal vat and shook the room. Dr Polendina looked out into the dust infused mist.

"Hmm, not as big of an explosion as last time. Through layers of metal, a massive explosion shook this place, now it was less powerful. Hopefully that means it's more stable." he pondered to himself.

As the mist cleared, he noticed that there was a mound of purple gooey sitting where the vat used to be. As he left the safe room and looked at it, it began to shift and move, before something jumped up, completely covered in it.

"EEEWWWW! NIAAAAA! BRIGHID! It's in my hair! This stuff'll ruin it!" The form cried out in distress.

"Kora, we know, it's all over us too." a second form answered standing up.

"WHAT!...NOOOOOO! MY CUTE OUTFIT! NIAAAA, IT'LL STAIN!" the first cried out louder.

"Kora, stop screaming." a third said standing, before the gooey coving the form began to bulge before exploding off, revealing a blue haired woman wreathe in blue flames, wearing a blue open front dress.

She began scraping the remaining goo off as the second form's goo bulged out too, before slowing sliding off its body, revealing another girl with large animal ears in a kimono like outfit that looked like it was missing some of the outfit. She pooled a large ball of water in her hand before throwing it at the first, the water blasting the goo away exposing a blond girl in a pink outfit. She was hunched over and looked disgusted. Dr Polendina coughed to get their attention, which caused them all to look at him. He noticed the cores in their chests.

"Well then, this prove it was the dust that can bring people through to Remnant. You three, follow me, we need to talk so I can get back to work." he ordered before turning and leaving.

"Wha...wait, who the bloody hell are you?!...And where are we?" the 'faunus' yelled.

"Come with me and I'll explain." he repeated walking out of the room, the three running after.

* * *

AN: This chapter is a bit later...and short...I had a _**bit**_ of trouble of later. My collage laptop **_catching on FIRE_** while on my lap was fun!

Okay, so, yeah, stuff. Anyway, forget that. I finally finished this chapter enough to put it up, sorry for the long wait.  
And, the start of the chapter, which I wrote before all this crap happened, I get the feeling may make some people unconformable. In RWBY, Weiss family lift is hinted at being bad, and volume 4 showed everyone a bit of it. It implied some stuff. I simply wrote it a bit more plainly.

And finally, the Alrest part, when I was unable to write for a while, I kept flip-flopping between Zenobia or Kora and eventually settled on Kora because "Zenobia would be cool fighting Grimm...but I actually used Kora."  
I'm going to be reading through this after posting to make it's fine, please tell me if there is anything really bad.  
Review, Pm, all that.

Anyway, enjoy, I'll try to write more and not have this go so long again.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter thirteen: Surprise visitors and corruption...

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

Winter briskly walked through the Atlas research center she had been in around a week ago and sighed. Dr Polendina had sent her a short message two hours ago which consisted of him simply saying 'Go to the meeting room you where last with James in.'.

"Uhh, I have actually work to do you know." she sighed as she opened the door to the room.

Winter stopped dead as three women who were sitting in the room turned to her.

"Eugh, finally. We've been sitting here for two hours now ya know. The balding guy just dumped us in here and said wait." A faunus wearing a kimono-esk outfit complained.

"Yeah, I was sooo about to go looking for someone, then I'd bring them back but I'd probably…" A blond girl began to rattle on and on.

Winter looked over the three as the third woman turned to her and stared with closed eyes. Then Winter saw that all three had those blue crystals in their chests, but the 'faunus' girl, her crystal looked like it had blood red stains in it.

 _Oh...fantastic…_

"Well then, I have a lot to discuss with you three from the look of it. First, some introductions would be nice. My name is Winter Schnee, Specialist of Atlasion army." Winter announced walking into the room and sitting down at a chair.

"Hmm, okay then, my name's Nia, that blond girl that won't shut up is Kora, one of my blades." Nia said leaning back in her chair and putting her feet up on the table.

"My name is Brighid, a blade of Inquisitor Morag of Mor Ardian. Although...I still don't know where she is…" Brighid whispered the last part.

"Morag? Black hair, brown eyes, blue military outfit with metal on it. Does that match her?" Winter asked.

Brighid shot to her feet.

"Yes! Do you know where she is?!" she yelled, opening her eyes, her bright purple eyes unsettling Winter slightly.

They didn't look...right. Winter shook away the feeling.

"Yes, an experiment performed around a week ago lead to three women and an android to appear where there was a large explosion from an unstable dust experiment. Currently, the four are in the Kingdom of Vale with General Ironwood."

"Wait wait wait. So, Atlasion, Vale? Never heard of any of this stuff. And I also guessing dust isn't the dirt kind." Nia interrupted.

"YYYYes, this is where things get a little complicated." Winter said hesitantly.

* * *

Winter finished explaining everything from the last experiment up to the four leaving with Ironwood. Nia looked confused and a bit concerned, Kora had tuned out around halfway through but had gotten the important bits and Brighid...she looked relieved. After a few seconds, Winter cleared her throat.

"So, as I explained, the now seven of you are in bit of trouble. Along with the fact that you three of you are here and the others are on the other side of the world. And I don't have time to babysit you three." Winter said rubbing her temples.

"Hey, I'm not a child you know!" Nia yelled, annoyed.

"Well, you aren't an adult anyway, you're only like 8 years or something right? When did you sister awaken you?" Kora asked leaning over.

"Oh, I'm not gettin' into that Kora. Anyway, you're one to talk, I awakened you like two months ago." Nia shot back.

"Nu huh, I probably was around before that, I doubt you were my first Driver. You lack…" the two began to shout and argue.

"Does this happen often?" Winter turned to Brighid.

"Depends on who is talking to who. It was mostly Mythra Kora argued with. But she isn't here, and hopefully won't get brought here."

"Hmm, oh yes, Nia?...NIA!" Nia jumped and turned, Kora shutting up too "Do you have any of the cores that make Blades?"

"What…? Hmm." Nia stood and began rummaging in a pouch on her hip "Give me a sec…" A flash of light engulfed Nia as orbs of light shot out of a white figure of light before flying back in, Nia reappearing, albeit a bit shorter, wearing an orange jumpsuit and her ears more cat shaped but directionally inverted.

She continued to search through another pouch, pulling out a pen-like device that glew a pale blue with a spike on its head.

"No, that's the overdrive protocol...ahh, here we go." she muttered pulling out a Core Crystal and holding it out in her gloved hand "You wanna try for a Blade or somethin'?" she asked.

"No, not at all. I wanted to know if you had one and if you did, keep it away from everyone. We don't need another Blade running around."

Nia stuffed the core and pen back into her pouch before sitting down.

"How did you do that by the way?" Winter wondered.

"Me changing you mean? It's something I learned I could do after becoming a flesh eater. It's a long story, not gettin' into." Nia stated dryly, cutting that line of questions off.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go call General Ironwood for advise on what to do. I'll be back soon." Winter stood and left the room quickly, pulling out her scroll.

After a few seconds, Ironwood answered.

"Ahh, Winter, how are you? Made much progress on those Grimm reports?" Ironwood asked.

"Yes, some, but General, a problem has occurred."

"What's wrong?" Ironwood's tone changed to a more serious one.

"Well, Dr Polendina has had results with his replication of the experiment with the warp dust. There are three more Blades now, brought over from that other world. One of which supposedly belongs to Morag." Winter explained.

"I...see."

"So General, what do I do with them?"

"Well, Winter, did you know that Beacon has a dance on Sunday?" Ironwood asked.

"General, I don't have time to fly to Vale for a dance." Winter replied, unamused.

"When was the last time you took a break?"

"Hmm, around a year ago I believe, to visit Weiss and check on her summoning glyph."

"Winter, why don't you take a long weekend, leave tomorrow, return on Monday. And if you so happen to bring a few friends…"

"General…(sigh) fine, fine. I guess I can go see how Beacon is treating Weiss. And see her team, especially this 'Ruby' she talked about. I'll go tell them I guess." Winter hung up and sighed "A vacation that's technically work...seems about right."

Winter turned to see Brighid standing behind her, making her jump.

"Trouble?" she asked.

"N-No, just, (sigh) work never ends…" she walked past her.

Ironwood scratched the back of his head.

"The end is never the end."

* * *

 **The city of Vale, the next day**

Weiss and Nero rounded a corner and came to a stop.

"Well Nero, here we are." Weiss gestured at the black building with dresses and suits on display.

"Umm, Weiss, why are we here?" Nero asked.

"Because we need to get you a dress Nero, you aren't going to the dance in that."

"But I was just going to stay in your room and read."

"Come now Nero, you're going to the dance. We're already having trouble getting Blake to go, you are not adding to that."

"Myself and Miss Belladonna have very different reasooons?!" Weiss suddenly grabbed Nero's sleeve and dragged her into the shop.

"No complaining."

The shop smelled of perfume and animal fur. A young red headed woman walked up to them.

"Hello you two! Welcome to Elysium Hills! Can I help you with anything?" she gave an obviously rehearsed line with a semi-forced smile.

"No thank you, we're just looking for a dress for my friend here. I believe I can handle it." Weiss said.

The woman looked over Nero, her eyes locking onto Nero's markings.

"I see, well, my suggestion is something to cover up those...ha, tattoos." she sneered walking away.

Weiss gave an annoyed glare before walking over to the women's section of the shop, Nero following.

"Well Nero, this is for you, so do you see any you like?" Weiss asked.

Nero looked over the dresses and her expression shifted to one of confusion.

"Ehh...Weiss, I don't really know...I'm not good with this stuff. I kind of just like my clothes." she stated, shrugging.

Weiss sighed before turning to the dresses and glancing through them. Walking along and among the racks and hangers, she stopped suddenly. She pulled out a dark blue one-piece dress. Weiss turned to Nero.

"I think this one, any objections?" Nero shrugged "Okay then, then go try it on." Weiss pointed to the changing rooms.

Nero nodded and walked into the small room and closed the door.

After five minutes, Weiss knocked on the door.

"Nero, are you okay?"

The response she got was Nero opening the door slightly, Weiss instantly noticing she was naked.

"I...umm...don't know how to put it on…" Nero replied meekly, embarrassed.

Weiss' face reddened instantly as she quickly jumped into the changing room.

"Nero! You don't have to get completely nak…! Umm...you know...uhh! What's wrong."

"My outfit is simply, put legs in shorts, put top over head, all that. This dress is weird."

Weiss just rolled her eyes.

"Why are you wearing nothing though?" she asked undoing the back of the dress.

"Because I took off my jacket, top and shorts."

"What about what's under them?"

"Under them?" Nero asked, confused.

"Wha...well, I know what we're buying next. Now, like this-"

After another minute, Nero was in the dress and Weiss was zipping up the back. But before, she stopped. Nero's back had the same markings as her arms, but like how they grew more complex as they traveled up her arms, her back was covered in them, all ending at single point on her back, the symbol 水 at it's center.

 _Good thing this has a back on it._ Weiss thought closing up the back.

Nero turned and looked at the mirror, smiling. But Weiss notice a problem. There was a raised bump on her front from the metal plate on her chest.

"Can you remove that?" Weiss pointed to the bump.

"Hmm? Oh, yes."

With Weiss' help, they got the top half off her, exposing her chest and core crystal. Nero placed her hand on the silvery metal and with a soft click, detached the metal part, leaving the gem behind, still inlaid in her skin.

"Will this help?"

"Let's see."

A few seconds later, the top portion was back on, the bump now barely visible.

"Good enough. Now we just have to get you out of it and as you get dressed, I'll go pay."

"Got it!"

After they left, the red haired girl shook her head.

"What was up with that girl, getting weird glowing tattoos at her age. How did get them to glow?" she commented to her brown haired colleague.

"I'm more interested on why she was with a Schnee." she said.

"What? How'd you know that?"

"White hair, the symbol on the back of her outfit. Play attention."

"A Schnee, with someone like that? Huh, that's something I wasn't expecting." the red haired girl added taking out her scroll.

* * *

The two got off the airship, Nero holding two bags. One with the dress, the other with clothes Weiss had told Nero to wear under her top and shorts, for some reason. As they walked onto the square in front of Beacon, Weiss stopped dead. Nero looked at were Weiss was staring and saw an airship off to the side, the symbol of Atlas on its side. Next to it was Ironwood, talking to a white haired woman. As they stood there, the woman looked over and began to walk over.

"Weiss, what's wrong?"

"T-That's my sister, Winter…"

Nero looked back over and found the woman was only a few steps in front of them.

"Weiss, I hope you're doing well, meeting everyone's expectations." she stated firmly, not really even asking.

"Yes Winter, I'm doing fine." Weiss replied stiffly.

Winter's face softened slightly.

"Weiss, relax, you look like you're about to snap in two. You're ridged." Nero whispered.

"Indeed, I've actually come on a mix of official business and to use some of my time off. I'll be leaving on Monday. I've heard you are helping set up the dance on Sunday."

"Yes, of course. My team and Nero have been working on it after classes and training."

"Nero? I'm guessing you speak of this girl…" Winter slowed down and looked over Nero before walking over and suddenly pulling her zip down, exposing her core.

Her eye twitched.

"We need to talk…" Winter finished.

* * *

Nia walked behind a man in a white military suit, hands behind her head as Kora looked around the ships metal halls. Brighid briskly walked in front of even the man that was meant to be guiding them, that woman Winter's boss, Ironwood. He turned to Nia.

"How does she know where to go?" he asked, confused.

"Blades have a thing called resonance, they can track their Drivers. Depending on their trust and bond, it could be a titan's length, halfway across the world or in another bloody dimension I guess. So if Brighid could get to the point Morag disappeared from easily, now it should easy." Nia explained.

"Yeah, I could tell where Nia was anywhere on Alrest, expect space, that was a little far."

"You went into space?"

"Now that is not a story I'm gettin' into."

They rounded a corner and the four found a familiar blade in the corridor, who turned to look at them. Herald opened her mouth before closing it, shocked. She inhaled.

"Ether mine?" she asked.

"Yep." Nia answered nonchalantly as they walked past.

"I expected a bigger response." Ironwood whispered.

"Herald's always been stoic, except when she offered to kill herself for her previous life's rampage, or when she is rampaging."

Brighid reached the door and knocked. After a second, Poppi opened the door and stepped back.

"Who is it Poppi…" Morag turned and froze.

Brighid stood in the door smiling before Nia and Kora popped their heads around the door frame.

"Hiya, we came to visit." "Yep!"

Morag placed her hand over her mouth.

"How!" she yelled, completely taken aback.

"I can explain." Ironwood added.

* * *

 **Beacon academy student exchange dorms**

In the exchange student dorm, three people sat doing different things. A black haired woman sat sewing a black outfit, a dark skinned, green haired girl lay on her bed throwing a leather satchel into the air and catching it while a grey haired boy read a magazine, clearly bored. After another minute, he leaned back and groaned, throwing the magazine aside.

"What's wrong Mercury?" the green haired asked, uninterested.

"You know the problem, playing the nice guy is boring. It's so much more...quiet." he replied.

"Mmm, yes, quiet...until now."

"Come now, it isn't that bad, the dance is a few days, and I feel that it will be quite exciting." the woman said finishing a row of stitching "By the way Emerald, what is that?"

"This, I stole it from an Atlas specialist around a week ago, I think? It's just a dust crystal, no clue what type though. I did a reverse image search and got nothing."

"You could, I don't know, read a book?" Mercury smirked.

"You could, I don't know, shove your legs up your ass?" Emerald replied.

"May I see?"

"Sure Cinder." Emerald threw the satchel at Cinder who caught it.

She pulled out the crystal, a warmth radiating out of it. She looked over it's pattern, before it began to glow. The light grew stronger as she raised an eyebrow. Emerald sat up as blue energy began to flow out of it, the light becoming blinding. Cinder felt it leave her hand and fly into her, before she was hit by a sudden pain as she felt it ricochet around inside her before suddenly leaving her, the light fading. Cinder leaned forward, vomiting up a blue liquid as Emerald ran over. An orb of light fell to the ground as Mercury jumped to his feet. The three looked at the orb as it grew and warped, changing into a humanoid shape, although it seemed to be having some trouble. After a few more seconds, the light faded and exposed a tall woman who had a look that made her look like her very being was split down the middle. One half was pale...unnaturally white, with black hair, while on her other side, her skin was...burnt brown, all of the exposed skin was scared with a burn. Her hair was brown and shorter than her other side. Her outfit was similarly split, the pale side had a simple long sleeved red and black too with a brown pants. The other half of her top top was white with a short sleeve and pants leg was dark green. The burnt side's clothes where marred with black marks. She lacked shoes. She opened her eyes, her burnt side lacking any iris or pupil, instead leaking a weak flare of energy. Her pale side's eye was yellowy-green. Finally, they noticed a blue gem on her chest, it looked like two shapes mashed together. One, half of a simple hexagon, the other looked like a flame.

"Uhh, that felt weird, I don't feel right...Nah, I'm fine! I feel great!...No, not right…" she suddenly said, her voice shifting between two different voices.

She looked over the three and smiled.

"Hi there, my name Amb-Amb-Amb" her pale side slapped her "Copal. Sorry, I'm feeling a bit off."

She grabbed her gem and summoned one identical to it. She pulled it apart, the hexagon forming a bladed staff made of black metal and the flame forming a saber made of glass. She slotted the two together and twirled it between her fingers.

"Well black haired driver, I'm ready to serve." she smiled producing a black flame in her other hand.

* * *

AN: Hey, new chapter!

Okay, so the reason this has taken awhile? Heat, just heat. Seriously, I was slowly writing this, barely making progress due to 36 C (the little o won't stay...) heat when suddenly, a week ago, it dropped to 16, and I wrote most of this chapter. Then it climbed back up. Couple that with internet that would die for hours at a time and it results in me only finishing this after getting home, to more manageable temperatures...sorta.

Also, the dance, next chapter. It feels like every time I go like 'hey, dance in this chapter' it doesn't. It's happening, finally.  
And that bit at the end...there was six versions of that. That one up there was a mix of two. The blade seems a little...messed up though. Wonder what caused that.

Next time, explanations! Dance! Foreshadowing!...maybe, sorta!  
PM, review, stuff and things.  
Anyway, enjoy.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter fourteen: A dance to remember

 _Italics= character thoughts_

 **Warning: This chapter contains spoilers for chapter 7 to chapter 10 and well, the entire end of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Got that? Good.**

* * *

Cinder, Mercury and Emerald all stared at the woman who had appeared, too shocked to speak. The woman's face began to show signs of boredom as Emerald finally broke the silence.

"What. The. F**k."

"You know, I'm going to agree with you there Emerald." Mercury whispered.

"Hey now, nice children don't swear." "I'm not their mother, let it go." "No, it still isn't very pleasant to hear." Copal argued with herself as Cinder stood, the pain in her abdomen fading.

"Well now, may I as who and want you are?"

"Of course driver, my is Copal, and I'm your blade." "I'm capable of fighting, burning, I've quite the focus and even devour light!" "I think I can do that last one…" "Needs practice." Copal listed off, her shifting voice creeping Emerald out.

"I need a little more than that. What is a 'blade'?"

"Blades are-are-are-" *slap* "We've, living weapons. We fight with our drivers, protecting them as they wield blade weapons" "Yes, that, we can fight alone too but blades cannot use arts easily alone, so Drivers make everything better."

"So you're mine right?"

"Yes Driver, I am yours." "A weapon to be used by you alone."

"Umm, Cinder, don't you think this is a little, weird." Mercury questioned.

"Some woman appeared out of dust, and just said 'yeah, I'm a weapon person, use me'." Emerald added.

"Oh yes, this is very unusual. But why question good fortune." she smiled, thinking of how to best use her new tool.

* * *

Winter practically dragged Weiss onto her ship, Nero running after them. They stopped in the cockpit and Winter locked the door and turned to the two. Weiss stayed silent, looking down. Nero looked around.

"What did you wish to talk about with me and Weiss Miss Schnee." Nero asked.

"You."

"Okay, then ask away!"

"How."

"Winter, I can explain…"

"Do you know how dangerous getting these blades can be Weiss! I saw a man die after touching one of those core! Where did you even get one of them! There are only four of them we know of!" Winter yelled, worry etched deep in her voice.

"I...two friends of my team found it and brought it to us because they thought it was dust. I grabbed it to examine it and, Nero appeared.

Winter's face, which was scrunched up with anger and worry softened after a few seconds. She leant down to Weiss' level.

"I, *sigh*...Weiss, I'm sorry. It's just, I didn't know and…" she trailed off.

Nero walked over to the two.

"Miss Schnee, I understand you worry for Weiss, but from what I've seen, her team are her friends and me, I'll make sure she never comes to any harm, from anyone." Nero vowed with an air of almost tangible seriousness.

"Ha, that look, I think I can trust that. And why mention her team. I didn't say anything about them. Although I do wish to meet this Ruby Rose Weiss talked about. I wish to see how truly, underwhelming she is." Winter stated returning to a more professional expression.

"Weiss! Did you really call Miss Rose underwhelming?" Nero asked, eyebrow raised.

"I may have written that part back when I was, upset about not being leader…"

Winter only sighed.

"I'll met them tomorrow." Winter finished as Nero and Weiss began to argue.

* * *

Morag stood froze by the sudden appearance of Brighid, Nia and Kora. Ironwood cleared his throat. Poppi looked over the group.

"They look like real friends." she commented.

"Of course we're real Poppi." Nia said, shrugging her shoulders.

"But how? We fell into that ether mine and came to be here."

"Well Lady Morag. I was lead to that mine by our resonance."

"Yeah, and she'd stand at the edge just staring into space on the dead titan until someone went to go get her. First Rex, then Zeke, then Nia, although Zenobia tagged along to see if anything survived being BBQ by the heat and Dromarch followed Nia. I wanted to see if the hot spring lived!...It didn't." Kora added.

"Yeah, then the next thing we know, the whole titan starts to shake and Brighid falls into the hole. I try grabbin' her, but then the edge collapses and Kora tries to be a hero and well, we all land in some gooey ether."

"Then Dr. Polendia calls Winter and well, these three are on Remnant."

"I see, well, is His Majesty and everyone doing well?" Morag asked, hoping for good news.

"Yes Lady Morag, everyone is doing well. We stopped Malos and Aion, we met the Architect and found out some, interesting information about Blades and Alrest." Brighid explained.

"Pyra and Mythia also died for a bit, but now they're fine, each with their own body." Nia added.

"How?"

"Mythia aegis, she probably not follow rules of world." Poppi handwaved.

"Well, she's not wrong."

"Okay, you can all catch up later and tomorrow, but first, we need to discuss some important details." Ironwood said.

"Like what?" Nia asked.

"Well, most of you look human or human enough to pass as one, Herald needed a bit of explaining and Poppi has to wear a uniform to cover her joints. Nia looks like a faunus so she's fine and Kora is Perun's ball field of 'probably needs more clothes but is fine'. The main problem is you." Ironwood pointed at Brighid.

"What's wrong with me?" she asked, sounding almost insulted.

"One, your hair is on fire. And two, your arms and legs look like they're made of somewhat solid fire. That is not normal."

"He is right Brighid, out of everyone, you are the only one that cannot be easily explained." Morag nodded in agreement.

"The closest similar case is of a blade a student accidentally got. She has hair that moves like rippling water, but after a bit of explaining, she is mostly fine."

"A blade? How'd that get into a kid's hands?" Nia asked.

"I will explain later. But, for now, how about we all get some sleep. It is late." Morag suggested.

"We can talk tomorrow." Perun called from the room.

"Ahh, so Perun is in there."

"Anyway, I'll show you to a room. By the way, will your hair ignite the sheets?" Ironwood asked Brighid.

"No."

"Poppi swap with Brighid so blades and driver can talk." Poppi announced walking out of the room.

"Thank you Poppi."

Brighid walked into the room and saw Perun sitting on the lowest bunk of four. She spotted her core.

"Perun, what happened?" Brighid asked, worried.

"I believe I'll explain that before sleeping." Morag stated sitting down.

* * *

 **Friday**

The first thing Ironwood did was gather Morag and Co in the bridge of the airship. There, he explained about Remnant and Dust, things Winter hadn't discussed when they arrived. Morag then followed up with what happened a few days ago involving Herald.

"Ohh, that means that Morag joined the weird blade/driver combo club! Just as well, they just lost Rex." Kora joked.

"Kora, this isn't funny." Brighid warned.

"It really isn't." Perun added "Especially as Poppi doing it isn't the same as Amalthus doing it. My weapon is unstable and it also still hurts, alot."

"And Poppi have to provide ether supplements."

"Well, at least you're alive. Brighid nearly disappearing scared the shite out of everyone." Nia said.

"Actually, Nia, I have a question." Ironwood turned to her "Why are like that now?"

"Hmm, this is my true form. That other one was to hide me being a flesh eater. I usually hang around in this form now." Nia put her hands behind her head "Why?"

"Just, the other one looks more, faunus." he said looking over her glowing outfit and blue orbs on her body.

"Uhf, fine." in a flash of light, Nia changed into her driver form.

"So, Winter also said that you have a core crystal."

"Yeah." Nia fished out the gem, the overdrive protocol falling out of the pouch with it "Stupid thing, stay in there." she muttered picking it up.

"Nia, you have an overdrive protocol?" Morag asked as she about to put it away.

"Yeah, one. Why?"

"Ahh, with that, we could get rid of one of the two blade problems!" Ironwood announced.

"Does someone want to get rid of a blade?" Kora asked.

"Not them, per se, but I would like to remove them from the students so we don't have to deal with that problem anymore." Ironwood explained.

"Well, you're not gettin' it then. If the driver wanted to shift'em, sure, but I'm not stealing a blade."

"Indeed General, you need to ask Penny and Weiss. And from what I've seen, I don't think that that is likely."

"I'll ask them after the dance then." Ironwood sighed.

"Ohh! There's a dance!" Kora clapped her hands together.

"That right. Poppi going to show off moves!"

"And I'm attending to ensure she doesn't do anything suspicious." Morag stated.

"Myself and Herald aren't going, and I doubt Brighid is." Perun added.

"Can we go Nia!?"

"No way, I'm not going to some fancy dance. And neither are you little miss lightning hair. You'd probably shock someone."

"I'm not Electria!"

As the two argued, Brighid wandered over.

"Don't worry, I'll stop her if Nia can't."

"Thanks…" Ironwood sighed.

* * *

Winter walked into the dance hall and checked her scroll. Weiss and her team would be finished their lessons in ten minutes and would most likely come straight to the hall. She walked around, checking what was set up already. She was a bit confused at why they would need such large speakers for a school dance...and a mixing board?

"Hmm, I sense a conflict of taste."

Winter heard yelling as she examined the setup.

"Yang, we can't have fog machines! This isn't some discount rave!" Weiss yelled.

"Come on ice queen, no one wants a super fancy ball. We're already have a mix of music." another girl argued back.

"It was meant to be myself and Nero finishing team CFVY's work! I doubt they would have had some of your suggestions."

"Have you seen Coco, I don't think she would have had doilies." the group of four finally entered the hall, stopping at the sight of Winter.

"Hello Miss Schnee." Nero waved.

"Schnee? Are you related to Weiss?" the black haired girl asked.

"Yes, Atlas specialist Winter Schnee. From the description of her team she gave, I'm guessing you are Ruby Rose, and you Yang Xion Long. That only leaves Blake Belladonna. Hmm, you two seem appropriately...average." Winter commented.

"Umm, average." Yang scoffed gesturing to herself.

"Yes, anyway, it is nice to meet the team that has treated my sister well. How is the dance going?"

"Well, you know, basically fine except Weiss and Yang keep complaining about what each wants." Ruby explained.

"I want it to be elegant." Weiss insisted

"I want it to be fun." Yang rebuked.

"Then compromise. Yang wants fog machines? Then Weiss gets doilies. Work by that principle." Winter suggested.

"Yeah, then it can be mix of fun and boring!"

"Ruby!" Weiss yelled.

"Anyway, now that I've met your team...mostly, I would like to see you quarters."

"Of course Winter, I'll be back later!" Weiss walked away with Winter "Also, the bunk beds aren't as unstable as you think." Weiss added leaving.

"Wait, what?"

The two left, leaving Ruby, Yang and Nero. Yang put down the machine she was holding.

"Well, at least I get my fog." Yang commented taking out some dust.

"Want are you doing?"

"Testing it. I need to make sure that place didn't rip me off." Yang stated pouring dust into a vent on the back.

Ruby grabbed the cord and walked over to a plug as Nero took the instructions.

"Miss Xion Long, that is a mix of air and ice dust, correct?" Nero asked looking at the yellow dust.

"Yep, I just added some food colouring for effect."

Yang finished filling to the brim and flick a switch. Nero looked over it.

"I think you overfilled it."

"It's fine." the machine began to shake as she said that.

After a few seconds, the front port began to spurt out a yellow sludge with enough pressure to hit Nero in the face. She fell back as the machine launched the gooey dust over Nero, making a mess on the floor. Nero stood after it stopped, slowly scraping it off her face and flicking onto the floor.

"Whoops…?"

Weiss returned to find Yang scrubbing the floor as Nero watched, Ruby giggling away.

* * *

 **Saturday**

Due to it being Saturday, team RWY + Nero had the day off to continue making sure that dance was set up perfectly. Nero sat at the side, filling balloons with helium, Yang was carrying around heavy speakers. Weiss walked up to Ruby.

"I want you to pick a tablecloth."

She placed down two near identical white cloths.

"Aren't they both the same?" Ruby answered, confused.

"Uch, why did I even ask." she walked over to Nero "Please pick a tablecloth."

"Weiss, the shades of white look the same, either will do." Nero said barely looking up from her balloons.

"But I need to know which would go best with the doilies."

"Weiss! I though we agreed on no doilies!" Yang yelled.

"You only get your fog machines if Weiss gets her doilies Miss Xion Long." Nero stated not looking up.

A door opening made them all look up.

"Your dance is gonna have fog machines?" Neptune asked walking over.

"We were thinking about it…" Weiss suggested walking up to him

"That's pretty cool."

"As long as the dust airlizer in the fog maker doesn't vomit the dust out like during Miss Xion Long's practice run yesterday." Nero added, smiling.

"It won't. I just put too much in." Yang handwaved.

"So you ladies all excited for dress-up?" Sun asked joining the conversation.

"Pfft... yeah, right, excited." Ruby scoffed.

"Laugh all you want. I'll be turning heads tomorrow night." Yang smiled.

"What are you two wearing?"

"Uhh... this?" Sun gestured to his open shirt.

"If I can't wear my jacket and top, you can't wear an open shirt." Nero deadpanned.

"Hey, I grew up in Vaceo, it's not exactly fancy suit area."

"We noticed." everyone said simultaneously.

"So, is Blake still being...you know, Blakey?" Sun asked after a few seconds.

"Yep."

"I don't know how we're going to change her mind." Ruby lamented.

"Trust me guys, I have a plan." Yang reassured, running off.

"Well, we gotta go prepare. See you later." Neptune said walking away, Sun following.

The remaining three continued to work for another hour before Weiss excused herself. After a minute Nero looked to Ruby.

"I'm going to follow Weiss."

"Wait, what will I do-" Nero ran out of the room "alone…"

Ruby looked around before taking out her scroll, beginning to play a game on it.

* * *

Weiss walked alone as the sun set, towards the canteen, Nero secretly following her. As she rounded a corner, Nero stuck behind it, catching sight of who Weiss was going to met. The blue haired boy, Neptune.

"Hey, Neptune!" she called out, the boy stopping in his tracks.

"Oh, hey, what's up?"

"So, umm, I know this is a little unorthodox, but I wanted to ask you something, would you like to accompany me to the dance tomorrow?" she asked, nervously.

"What? Oh, umm, yeah...sorry, umm, Weiss, but I'm not going to be going with anyone to the dance. Ya see, I have to keep my options open on the day, gotta make sure everyone has a chance, you know?" he replied, clearly lying.

"W-What…? Oh...okay, yeah, I get it…" she whispered, dejected.

As he was about to say something, she turned and ran back the way she came.

"Weiss?" Nero breathed as she ran by, Nero catching a glimpse of a single tear rolling down her face.

Nero felt her blood begin to boil. She rounded the corner and made a beeline straight for Neptune. He noticed her approaching.

"Oh, hey ther-hup!?" he was silenced by Nero kicking out his leg from under him and catching him by the neck.

She slammed him into the stone pillar, the force causing a few small cracks. Neptune looked at her face in surprise and saw her face vacant of emotion, except a seething hate in her eyes.

"So, did you enjoy making Weiss cry Neptune? Is that how you treat people who like you?" she asked, her tone leaking venom.

"*cough!* What?! N-No, I don't!" he answered, fear in his voice.

Nero tightened her grip.

"Then why reject her, hmm? It wasn't even that you have another girl for the dance, you just wanna keep your options open."

"N-No, that was a lie! I-I can't bring her to the dance, I can't bring anyone!"

"Why?!"

"Because I can't dance!" he yelled, clawing at her hand.

"...What?" Nero released Neptune, stunned.

"I, I can't dance." he repeated.

"But you give off an air that you're amazing with all of that stuff. You would break Weiss' heart to escape some people you'll probably never see again knowing you can't dance?" Nero asked, still stunned.

"Yeah, pretty much." he whispered.

Nero's face scrunched up in annoyance and turned away.

"Hey, please don't tell anyone. I need to keep up appearances." he begged.

Nero turned back to him and pulled him to his feet by the collar.

"I won't tell...if you go to the dance with her." Nero said with a sly smile.

"Umm...sure…" Neptune hummed, unsure.

"What, don't like her?"

"No, it's not that, I mean, I don't know her very well yet, but she's pretty and I can tell that under her cold exterior is a nice person."

"Then get to know her at the dance. If you run from girls who try to get to know you and bring you out, then you'll never truly know anyone, only their looks. So, go to the dance, talk to her, try dancing, enjoy yourself." Nero finished letting him go.

Neptune gave a dry laugh.

"Yeah...heh, maybe this is what I needed...someone to call me out for once that isn't Sun's half-assed attempts." Neptune whispered.

"The dance begins at seven, Weiss'll be leaving her dorm at twenty to seven, catch her there and have a good time." Nero finished walking away.

Neptune fixed his jacket and patted himself down.

"She's right, terrifying, but right."

* * *

 **The next day**

RWY + Nero spent almost all of Sunday ensuring that the dance hall was completely finished. Weiss made sure that all tables had the correct tablecloths and doilies on each table, Yang secretly trying to remove them...to no avail. Nero brought in a large bundle of flowers and set about putting them in glass vases, filling it with water taken off her skirt. Weiss forced her to change it to normal water after noticing the water was still cloudy white. By six, the room was truly ready. Yang ran off to get changed, dragging Ruby with her. Nero ran around the room and stopped at Weiss.

"So, When Miss Xion Long returns, we'll go get ready, right?" Nero asked.

"Yes…"

"Weiss, cheer up."

"I'm fine Nero, fine." she walked over to a drooping flower.

 _Yeah, you will be fine, in a bit_ Nero thought with a smile.

Yang returned after a few minutes in a pure with dress, hands on hips.

"Hey, while you're up in the dorm, can you get Ruby out of the bathroom, she won't leave."

"Why?"

"Because I told her to wear heels and when she refused, so I stole all her boots." Yang held up three pairs of identical black boots.

Weiss only sighed, walking out of the room, Nero following.

After they got to RWBY's dorm and got on their dresses, Weiss having to help Nero again. Then came the pleading and orders.

"Miss Rose, please just come out, wearing heels is not that bad. I'm wears a pair of Weiss' and I'm fine." Nero said through the door.

"No way, I'll fall over in those lady stilts!"

"Ruby, we don't have time for this, it's twenty to seven already!" Weiss yelled.

Nero stopped and smiled at that.

"Weiss, why don't you go on ahead, I may have a way of getting her out."

"Okay, if you insist." Weiss said, confused.

She walked over to the door and opened it, finding Neptune in a black suit about to knock on it.

"Oh, h-hi!" he stammered.

Weiss looked shocked for a second and turned to Nero who was laughing.

"Enjoy yourselves." she turned back to the door "Miss Rose, I will flood that room by ripping the water out of the taps."

"You wouldn't dare!" Ruby challenged.

With a snap of her fingers, a sound of straining metal came from the bathroom as well as what sounded like running water caming from the room as the two left, Ruby's crys echoing after.

"She dared, she dared!"

"What made you change your mind?" Weiss asked as they walked to the dance.

"A certain terrifying but straight forward girl with a knack for water." he replied "She was a bit forceful, but she didn't take any crap, and that's what I kind of needed."

 _Ha, thanks Nero…_

* * *

Half an hour after the dance began, Ironwood, Winter, Poppi, Morag, Penny and KOS-MOS arrived. Penny was the only one dressed for the dance, Poppi, Ironwood and Winter still wore there white uniform while Morag wore her Inquisitor outfit. Penny wore a simple grey/green dress. KOS-MOS stood beside her. Most ignored the six, KOS-MOS the only one getting a curious glance. Penny spotted Ruby off to the side talking to Professor Ozpin, running off excitedly with KOS-MOS following. Ironwood sighed.

"Can you make sure she doesn't get into trouble." he asked Poppi.

"Poppi keep eye on her while dancing!" she stated happily walking off.

"Let her enjoy herself General. Locking her away won't stop her from wanting to leave." Morag commented.

"I don't want her to make a scene."

"I doubt she'd make a scene in such a crowded place." Winter added.

"And I doubt she tries to make trouble." Morag said folding her arms.

After a few minutes of standing along the side of the room with Morag and Winter, Ironwood looked around, almost scanning the room to see if everything was fine. Poppi was surrounded by a small group, all watching her do a complex dance. Penny was talking to that girl Ruby again, the girl clearly happy and poking at KOS-MOS, who looked unaffected. Then he spotted Ozpin and Glynda off to the side as well. He fixed his tie.

"I'll be back." he said walking over.

"I feel like those two have a history." Morag commented as Ironwood asked Glynda to dance, who rolled her eyes taking his hand.

"I believe they do, not that I know it."

Morag felt someone tap her shoulder and turned to the right, seeing a grey haired man in a red suit, a large mustache on his face.

"Greeting my dear ladies, would one of you care for a dance?" he asked.

"Oh yes, Morag, I believe you and Port should have a go." Winter joked.

"Uhh, well, I'm not really one for dancing actually. I was never good at it. Niall's and Brighid's feet can attest to that." she whispered.

"You don't need to know how to waltz to have jolly good time at a dance. I mean, looked at the boy!" Port pointed to a blue haired boy simply bouncing up and down flailing his arms "No skill, but he's enjoying himself!"

Morag gave a choked laugh as she looked around before sighing.

"Just do not complain if I injury your feet."

"Trust me, the Grimm have done a lot worse."

"Good luck." Winter added as they left.

As the dance continued, Poppi was eventually pushed back to Penny, Ruby and KOS-MOS, the dance floor being taken over by a group of four teens.

"Never knew Jaune could dance, wonder how he learned those moves." Ruby wondered.

"Your friend is quite the dancer Ruby." Penny clapped her hands together.

"Indeed, his physique hides a form of grace." KOS-MOS added "Also, why is the boy wearing a dress?"

"I dunno?"

"They interrupt Poppi." she huffed "Poppi going outside for a bit."

"Mind if I join you? It's getting even more crowded in here." Ruby asked.

Poppi shrugged as she walked towards the side door, Ruby saying goodbye to Penny. They both walked outside as Poppi looked around at the sky, the cold air picking up a breeze.

"Do you see that?" Ruby asked.

Poppi turned to where she was pointing and spotted someone running and jumping along the roof of the parallel building.

"That not normal." Poppi ran towards them, intending to follow.

Ruby stumbled after her.

* * *

The two reached Beacon's comm relay, which Atlas was currently using. They spotted a soldier knocked out on the ground. Poppi ran into the building as Ruby pressed a button on her scroll, a locker landing behind her after a few seconds. She rushed into the building as Poppi was checking more soldiers, these ones with injuries. The two nodded to one another and jumped into the elevator that Poppi had called.

Ruby and Poppi rode the elevator to the top floor, opening to a large room with multiple computer, and at first, no one. They stepped out into the room, Poppi drawing her saber, it flaring to life as she looked around.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Ruby asked, stumbling over her heels.

As she was about to speak again, a woman in all black stood up from behind a desk, smiling.

"You know, it's not a masquerade party, so why don't you just-" but the woman interrupted Ruby by throwing up a mist of sand from a canister and with a flick of her wrist, burned it into glass shards.

The hail of glass was launched at Ruby who barely shattered them with a spin of Crescent Rose. Ruby retaliated with several shot fired from her weapon, but the woman easily blocked them with quick bursts of fire, disintegrating the bullets. The masked woman twirled, a fire burning dust into twin obsidian swords. She jumped back as Poppi jumped at her, her slash missing. Poppi didn't relent and chased her, swinging rapidly, the woman backflipping away. She kicked off the ground, a quick burst of fire attaching the duel swords by the handle, making a bow. A wire burned into view as she drew back, three black, flaming arrows forming already nocked. She fired, Poppi bringing up her shield just in time, the arrows' heads still piercing her barrier, but stopping with the shaft half embedded. The arrows detonated, blowing her shield apart. Poppi staggered back, Ruby launching herself with her scythe over her, slashing at the woman. She pulled the bow apart and blocked with one sword, thrusting the other. Ruby pulled back and dodged, attacking again but stumbling on her heels again. Taking her chance, she tripped Ruby and sent her flying with a kick to the stomach.

Poppi's jets ripped the back of her outfit as she used them to fly forward, catching the woman off guard. Poppi slashed repeatedly, the woman blocking each attack, but Poppi avoiding each counterattack. Stray cuts sliced up the desks and computers as the two fought to a draw. Clear agitated, the woman threw a blade up into the air and summoned a fireball, blasting Poppi away, catching her sword after. Poppi replied with her saber changing shape slightly, an opening appearing at it's tip.

"Noponic Axion!" Poppi yelled, her saber firing a large laser of energy.

The masked woman dodged barely, the blast blowing out the window behind her. She grimaced at Poppi, before smiling, reattaching the swords and forming another arrow. Poppi readied herself to block it again, but noticed she wasn't the target, the woman aiming to the left of Poppi. She glanced to the left and saw Ruby, winded, on the floor, clutching her stomach. The woman fired, Poppi jetting to the side to block the arrow. Unable to raise her barrier in time, the arrow pierce her chest, directly on her artificial core. The arrow then detonated, blowing Poppi back into the wall.

"No, Poppi!" Ruby cried running over.

Poppi opened her eyes and was met with a sea of error messages and warnings filling her vision, the most prominent one flashing that her elemental drive core was damaged. Her hearing was damaged too, Ruby's crys muffled and distorted.

"Wha-Wha-What...hap-hap-hap*kzert*happened…" Poppi asked, struggling to move, sparks arcing out of her damaged torso.

"Poppi! Ehh, what do I do?!" Ruby yelled, panicking.

"My-my core *Zrk* I req-require my sp-spare. Poppi can-can heal non-serious damage." she stated, her ether furnace joining the list of damaged parts in her vision "That...not good…" she added, beginning to worry.

"Not serious!? Poppi, you have a hole in her chest!" Ruby said ignoring the fact that Poppi was mechanical like Penny.

A ding made Ruby jump as she turned to the lift, General Ironwood running out of it, spotting the two.

"Help!" Ruby pleaded.

"Oh god…"

* * *

AN: 5051 words before the AN...I said I was getting to the dance, so I did. Also, Mr. spoiler tag, you're back!

Anyway, I would not advise what I did yesterday. 'Man, I've only written 600 words of the next chapter because I've been busy, I should write more.'  
 **Six hours later..  
** 'Done...my eyes hurt..."  
It was not a smart idea.

So, talking a bit about this, I actually rewatched the Cinder fight twelve times to make sure I got it all and noticed something. When she gets her bow...there isn't any bowstring or wire...the arrows are kind of just held by her and launched...somehow. Old RWBY, how I love your jankyness. Especially the roof run, the layering is so wrong...

Anyway, this chapter was long, so if you have any questions, feel free to review, PM, stuff.  
Heh, that ending tho...

 **So, this part in bold, you can skip it if you wish, I just want to talk a little about something.**  
 **I've another story, one that's been laying around for a few months, untouched. To anyone who likes that, that story isn't dead. No story I ever start will just, end, never to update again. I started this story to jump start my will to write that was waning, and it ended up consuming my time. When this story ends, I'm going back to it. There have been story I liked and loved, ones I waited months...years...for the next chapter, never to come. The thought of doing that to someone who may like it, I don't ever want to do that. There are enough dead stories out there, I'll not add to it.**  
 **In fact, I've even written two chapters of a different story three days ago to help get me going and write again. That story, It'll continue to be written occasionally, even after this story is done and the previous one restarts. I'll start releasing it after I get back to the previous one.  
So yeah, this part is done.**

Anyway, enjoy


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter fifthteen: Emergency repairs

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

 **Earlier that night**

Nero stood off to the side of the dance hall, looking over the dancers. She spotted Weiss with Neptune, Ruby with a orange haired girl and Blake with that boy Sun. Yang sidestepped into view.

"Soooooo, having a good time?" she smiled.

"Weiss is enjoying herself, the dance is going well...so in a way, yes I am." Nero replied.

"Don't you want to dance with anyone?"

"I only really know you four Miss Xion Long, there's no one to dance with. Not that I'd really want to. I don't know how."

"You sure, what about that guy?" Yang asked, pointing over to the right.

Nero glanced over and saw the dark brown haired fox boy, he was in a black suit, like most of the students. He cautiously looked over, before quickly turning away seeing Nero look at him.

"That's the boy who I end up sitting next to in most classes." Nero said following her arms.

"Well, he's looking a bit sheepish for a fox. I get the feeling he'd like a dance." Yang commented, smirking.

"I guess, I might as well ask." Nero finished beginning to walk over.

Yang let out a half chuckle before walking back over to the main door, spotting two late comers.

Nero reached the fox boy as he turned back towards her, jumping at the fact she was now next to him.

"Waa! I mean, h-hi!" he gave a nervous wave, completely stiff.

"Supposedly you've been looking over at me. What's wrong? Would you like to dance?" Nero asked, the boy clearly not ready.

"What?! Umm...I mean, I wanted to a-ask you but, I never asked your name and you're always with that team and I-I..." the boy stammered out, wringing his hands.

"Well, I never asked your name either, my name is Nero."

"M-My name is Dante Airus!" he almost yelled.

Nero just laughed at the boy's poor attempts to talk to her. It didn't seem to help his confidence.

"So, Mr Airus, shall we try dancing and then stop after a minute because one of us failed at it miserably and crushed the others feet." Nero teased.

"Yeah, s-sure."

* * *

They barely had two minutes to dance before they were pushed to the side as a group of four began to dance, taking up most of the floor. It was just as well. Nero thought she was bad, but Dante had come close to mangling her toes. Luckily she was a Blade, they healed faster then he could maim. They sat off to the side as the crowd cheered.

"Sorry..." he whispered.

"It's fine, it was either going to be me or you. Better it was me." Nero reassured.

"So, umm, where is the rest of your team?" Dante asked casually.

Nero froze for a second as she thought up a reasonable excuse.

"Ha, my team, is still in Atlas. Some stuff happened and only I came, so, umm, yeah. I'm not sure when or if they will come. I mostly spend time with Weiss." Nero lied.

"I see...so, does your team like you?" he asked, eyes downcast.

"Mr Airus? What's wrong?"

"Well, my team...I get the feeling they would have preferred another human. When we fight or do combat training, they're fine. But in our dorm, they don't really speak with me, at meals I eat a bit away from them, and they always sit together in classes and I'm pushed to the side..." Dante whispered "They didn't even want to come to the dance, and they said that after I said I was going and kind of wanted to ask you to dance."

"Mr Airus, I don't know a lot about faunus, but from the few I've spoken to, well, three I've spoken to, they appear to be just humans with animal tails or ears. I don't understand why people are so against you."

"I wish there where more people like that, just 'they've animal bits, so?' kinds of people."

"Well, just forget about that. That group has calmed down, so let's try again." Nero announced standing and offering him a hand.

Dante smiled and took it, the two walking onto the dance floor.

They only danced for another five minutes before the night came to an end, a loud bang and a beam of light being fired from a tower outside, shining a blinding light into the hall, bring the dance to a sudden end.

* * *

 **Present**

"Help!" Ruby pleaded as Ironwood looked at the scene in horror.

Poppi lay against the wall, hole in her chest exposing her inner workings, sparks escaping it. At that moment, Ironwood didn't really care that the girl now knew Poppi was an android, he more cared about saving Poppi.

Ironwood ran over to the two.

"What happened?!" he asked, looking at the two.

"W-We saw someone running along the roofs, so we chased them and saw that the soldiers had been knocked out. We came up and found a woman in black and she attacked us, so we fought back. She winded me and if Poppi hadn't jumped in front of her arrows, I-I'd be..." Ruby trailed off, clearly distraught.

"Alright, alright, okay, plan. Go down to the lobby and give the soldiers the description of the woman. Tell them to find her and ask one to get some atlesian knight engineers and a woman called Morag to come up here, quickly!" he ordered, Ruby nodding and running off.

Ironwood turned to Poppi.

"How bad is it?"

"Poppi's ether furn-furn-furnace damaged, elemental core des*hzert*troyed, chest open, mode sh-shift disabled. Hearing not working r-right." Poppi listed, her voice distorted, sounding like it was coming through a metal pipe "Now voice gone funny...Ironman, Poppi not good."

"Damn it, can you fix yourself?" he asked, hopeful that Poppi could somehow just repair herself.

"Poppi can repair minor dam-damage without help, but this damage bad. Ether furnace*burzt* not fully online. N-Need Masterpon's help." Poppi lamented, knowing full well that Tora was nowhere close to being able to help.

"Damn it, damn it damn it damn it!" a ding made Ironwood turn, Morag, Penny and KOS-MOS running in.

"Poppi!" Penny yelled, shocked.

Morag ran over and crouched down.

"Who did this?" Morag more ordered an answer then asked.

As the three stood, unable to figure out how to proceed, KOS-MOS walked over, her visor flicking down. After a few seconds, she reached down and grabbed Poppi.

"KOS-MOS?"

"Poppi's core systems will fail in approximately 5 minutes, no one will arrive on time, and will be unlikely any help. Memory corruption possibility 68% if she reaches a critical state. Alternative power source must be used." she explained, carrying her over to desk.

She began to expertly dismantle three computer monitors and a torn open a plug and power outlet. She began to effectively juryrig a makeshift cabled power charger. She reached into Poppi's chest and began to search for the connection points her furnace used. Morag waked over.

"Do you require assistance?"

KOS-MOS handed her the cables she had inserted into the dismantled outlet, now sparking with power. Ironwood looked on in amazement.

 _Maybe we should have KOS-MOS look into getting them back home?_ He wondered.

KOS-MOS flicked down her visor again, before taking one cable and quickly disconnecting a wire and replacing it. She did so twice more in quick succession, lifting out Poppi's ether furnace, a clear crack in it and a large gash out of it's side. It leaked a yellow/green liquid.

"Poppi feel funny..." she whispered as her warning about power deficiency disappeared but her ether furnace one change to saying it was offline.

The lights flickered.

"Poppi is consuming 72% of Beacon's energy, Ozpin's power bill may rise." KOS-MOS stated matter of factly, a contrast to how it sounded like it was an attempt at a joke.

Poppi struggled for a second before sitting up, looking down at the cables going into her.

"Poppi cannot use weapon or ab-abilities with weird set up*czt*" Poppi said, sounding almost annoyed.

"I would more focus on attempting to fix yourself." Morag commented.

Poppi nodded and began to screw off her twin spikes that where were her ears should be. She began to root around in one. As she did, Morag pulled out a mechanical part that's top resembled the orange gem on Poppi's chest.

"Hmm, why friend have element core?" Poppi asked.

"Because Tora was terrified about it becoming damaged and not being there to fix it. He practical forced us all to carry one. I believe Rex had three." Morag explained "Did you think he could carry all your Poppiswap parts himself. Half of Garfont's storehouse was filled with different parts."

"Heh, silly Masterpon."

After another minute, she reattached her 'ears' and poked at her throat. She coughed, the distortion gone. She grabbed the core and pulled out her ice drive, inserting the light drive. She sighed.

"Poppi cannot fix mode swap or ether furnace. They too complex."

"Well, at least you're stable." Ironwood sighed as the lift opened and a soldier with two men came out. One had a lab coat on, the other looked like an engineer.

"Well then, fancy setup." the engineer joked, glancing over destroyed computers and outlet.

Ironwood merely scowled, unamused.

"Okay, okay, I get it, not a good time. Now then, major problems first."

KOS-MOS held up the ether furnace, the scientist going starry eyed.

"This is Poppi's power source, it has failed due to damage." she turned to Poppi "A device known as the mode shift is also offline, those two must be fixed."

"We can handle closing up her chest later, she needs a new power supply." Ironwood added.

The scientist ran over and grabbed the ether furnace and turned around, running into the lift. The engineer shrugged.

"Ignore him, anyway, let's have a look."

* * *

After 5 minutes of poking around in Poppi's chest, he pulled his head out and looked at the group.

"I will be honest, I have no idea how she works. That cyborg friend of yours certainly did a good job getting the cables in there. But I'd be afraid that I'd pull out or break something important if I attempted to install a compact dust reactor in there. Hell, she's consuming so much power she'd need regular dust injections into it to keep it running, not to maintain the fact that she was not build to run on dust, this current solution and the next could seriously damage her inner workings." the engineer explained "As for the mode shift, no idea, none. I've never seen something so small yet complex. A genius must have built it."

"It fine, Poppi built to use ether, but blade friends use dust to work fine. Poppi is artificial Blade, so it fine." Poppi reasoned.

"It's your call. I'll go get the most powerful one that's small enough to fit in there. But just to let you know, fighting is going to be an 'only if completely necessary' thing. The reactor will hopefully be able to power you fully, fighting will drain it fast though." he turned and left.

A wave of relief filled the room.

"Poppi will be okay, thank goodness." Penny sighed.

"Indeed master, it is lucky my calculations were correct. There was only a 34% the power would hold."

"What were the other chances?" Ironwood asked.

"56% power would fail after 10 minutes, 10% a power surge would corrupt Poppi's memory but work as the current situation."

"Well, luck is on our side then."

* * *

Ruby sat on a chair in relay's lobby area. After telling the soldier about Poppi and to get Morag, Winter, who had been standing off to the side, walked over. She told Ruby she'd need to wait to talk to Ironwood. She squirmed in her chair, nervous.

 _What are they going to say to me? I'm pretty sure that I wasn't meant to know that Poppi was a robot. I mean, I know Penny is, but I'm probably not meant to know that either. Well, the way she spoke, saying her name and missing words, she was probably made before Penny. She had a shield thing too, not an Aura. I guess that explains her spike ears...and horns...I thought they were ear protection._ Ruby thought to herself, trying to distract her worried mind _I hope she's okay._

After more people came back and forth to the lift, which Ruby was too distract by thought notice, she felt someone touch her shoulder.

"Miss Rose?" Ruby jumped and turned to see Winter looking at her, then noticed Ironwood.

"S-Sorry! I was...umm...thinking and uhh."

"It's fine, Ruby?" she nodded "Ruby. After want you experienced, it's understandable that you're a little shaken. But unfortunately, we do need to talk about want happened up there. The woman can wait until tomorrow, I want you to collect your thoughts on that, but Poppi, we need to talk about." Ruby nodded again.

It made sense, a human looking robot/android is certainly...a new thing.

"Ruby, Poppi is part of a group of secrets the Atlas military are trying to keep hidden. Under no circumstance can you tell anyone, not team, friends, family, no one." Winter explained as she took out a piece of paper and handed it to Ironwood.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked placing it down.

Ruby scanned over it. It was filled completely with a mix of long words, legal wordplay and several places to sign.

"Umm, a contract?" she answered.

"Not quite, a NDA, effectively, it will say that you cannot legally speak about what you saw with Poppi to anyone except to me or Winter, unless we say you can. This is a template. Tomorrow, before the big 'getting assigned to a hunter and going on a mission'-" "I forgot about that." she whispered, chuckling.

"Heh, before that though, I want you to come to Ozpin's office so we can talk about that woman. I'll also bring the real form. Oz will be there, he'll read it and make sure you understand it. Until then, still no talking. Sorry if this is confusing, I would have preferred not to have gotten anyone involved."

"Don't worry, I'm good at keeping secrets." Ruby added, standing "See you tomorrow."

After she left, Nia and Kora ran in.

"Where's Poppi!?"

"Get in the elevator, top floor." both ran off.

"I feel like I'm in a nightmare..."

"Don't worry General, you're not. There's no waking up from this." Winter stated, sighing.

* * *

 **White fang secret base**

As several white fang members lifted heavy boxes from the ruins of a warehouse onto a old train, a man in a white coat and a black bowler hat sauntered into view. He glanced over at the faunus.

"Hey, remember to be careful with those, don't want a repeat of yesterday!" he warned.

A short faunus with deer antlers poking through his hood ran over, clearly a bit worried.

"Roman? We have, umm, a guest?" he sounded unsure if want he was saying was correct.

"Hmm, what was that Deery?" Roman turned to him, eyebrow raised.

"Well, some woman just walked in through the secret entrance and asked to see you. The guards tried to stop her but she, ehh, cut their weapons into scrap and burned one kinda bad." 'Deery' explained.

"Well, that sounds, interesting, where is she?"

"Over here!" "Pay attention, possibly?" two similar voices said one after another.

Roman turned to see an odd looking woman walking towards him. He smiled at her as she walked up to him, but internally he could feel his eye attempting to twitch.

 _Oh fantastic, another weirdo from Cinder's group of friends. Wonder what her quirk is? Cannibalism?_ He asked himself.

"Greeting Mr Roman Torchwick, my name is Copal, Cinder's Blade." "I've come to make sure you have screwed anything up." Copal said with a fake sweet smile.

"Oh, how nice to meet you, well as you can see, everything is fine. I don't know why she seems to think everything would explode without someone watching me, but well, you know Cinder." Roman said, disdain leaking out of his words. _What the heck is a blade, a rank in the weirdo club._

"I'd be careful Roman, I may not have know her long, but I do know Cinder doesn't like people disrespecting her." "She'll murder you slowly." Copal warned then threatened.

"Oh come on now, I was joking, Cinder knows I'll get this all done and dusted on time."

An explosion rung out as a bolt of lightning zoomed past them, a white fang member landing on her back next to them, her clothes burnt slightly.

"I'm okay!"

"Oh for fu...someone fix that now you stupid animals!" he yelled, clear annoyed.

Copal walked up to his face.

"Don't worry, I'm here to help." both her voices said in unison, giving a wide smile.

 _Why do I always get the strange ones..._ Roman thought.

* * *

AN: This'll be quick.

So, my brother broke the internet with a wifi extender thing and now nothing works correctly. Been busy too, college stuff, sorry.  
Part at start meant to be part of previous chapter, forgot to write it.  
Fixed a typo that no one pointed out went autocorrect changed tentacle to testicle in the Nero KOS-MOS fight, next time tell me that, it was embarrassing.  
Pm, review, stuff, may not reply unfortunately, depends on the now temperamental internet.

Anyway, enjoy


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen: New teammate

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

Ironwood paced back and forth in Ozpin's office, infuriated. His grip threatened it shatter his Scroll in his hand. No trace, nothing. Nothing was left behind by the woman that had infiltrated Beacon, nothing! Her weapon's left no trace and her explosives no residue. No dust, no fuel, just scorch marks with nothing but carbon. Not even Poppi's wound...hole had anything left. Thinking of Poppi, what had happened after he'd let Ruby go came back to mind.

* * *

 **The previous night**

The engineer returned a few minutes after Ruby left, holding a head sized dust reactor. Ironwood raised an eyebrow.

"Will that, fit?" Winter asked.

"Anything smaller won't power her from how much she's using. We'll have to remove anything in the way that's not vital." he answered walking over to the lift.

Ironwood and Winter followed and ascended to the top of the tower to find an irate Nia.

"When I find out did this, Imma rip their bloody head off!" she yelled through grit teeth.

"Wow, I haven't seen you this anger in a while." Kora commented.

"Of course I'm anger! I'm worried too. Poppi has a hole in her and is hooked up to some weird cables and junk! Her power source is shot!" Nia continued.

"Well, possible solution, coming through." the engineer announced walking over "As long as we can make this fit we'll-" KOS-MOS snatched the reactor out of his hand.

"Hmm, this may be acceptable…" she whispered looking over the machine.

"Wha-hey! Be careful with that! It's delicate."

KOS-MOS ignored him and walked over to Poppi and compared sizes between the reactor and her torso. She placed it down.

"The installation of this power source requires the removal of both the cables and this device." she stated reaching into Poppi.

Her visor flicked down as she effortlessly removed a mangled metal box with a cracked screen that flickered qtπ on it.

"That Poppi's mode shift." Poppi said noticing another warning changing from damaged to non functional.

"Nia was it? I require the assistance of someone with smaller hands. Will you assist?" KOS-MOS asked glancing over.

"Umm, sure."

Nia wandered over to the two as KOS-MOS leaned into Poppi, Nia copying.

"Reach in to that socket and pull up the wires inside and connect them to this port." KOS-MOS instructed, Nia complying.

As she finished, KOS-MOS quickly began to remove the cables and connect more wires to the reactor, Poppi twitching as she did. After the last one, KOS-MOS nodded to Nia, Nia nodding too as they both held the reactor and slowly slide it fully in. Nia holding it in place, KOS-MOS turned.

"We require something to hold it in place."

The engineer ran over and handed her two adjustable rod clamps, KOS-MOS quickly installing them, both backing away from the moving, functioning reactor.

"Now, the final touch." the engineer said pulling out two vials of yellow powder "This is important, so listen up. Two of these, in these ports, everyday at 8 to 9pm, unless you fight, in which it becomes every 5 minutes of fighting and immediately after. You're gonna be guzzling dust, so missing this isn't going to be 'woops, forgot', it'll be ' wait, wasn't I...power off', got it." he warned inserting them into the ports and handing Poppi four more.

"Poppi got it, Poppi HUD has fuel meter on side, so me know went dusty stuff run low." Poppi smiled taking the vials and putting them on her belt "Poppi may need more after repairs fix hole." she added as the jagged edges began to smooth "Meh, glad Masterpon instilled minor self-repair system after fight with mean Aegis."

Ironwood sighed.

 _At least she's safe...ish_

* * *

 **Present**

Glynda was the one to snap him back to reality.

"James, this document is a little strict." she stated holding the NDA he'd drawn up.

Ironwood knew that, complete silence about Poppi at risk of imprisonment without trial, for an indefinite amount of time. It seemed, extreme. But if Poppi being an android got out, people would begin fearing if Atlas has made human-like robots to infiltrate cities, kingdoms, organizations. Rumours would become fact, lies spread. Was he paranoid? Yes, overly so. This can't get out. Team RWBY knowing a bit about Blades too worried him a bit. Maybe it was starting to get to him. This was getting bigger and bigger.

"I do agree that these terms are a little, extreme, but they're not unreasonable. I'm certain Miss Rose already understands the gravity of the situation." Ozpin said taking the document and sitting down.

"So, you're fine with that version, good, now we need to find that woman."

"Well, we can't do much if she left no trace or trail." Ozpin commented calmly.

"But she was there, in that room Ozpin! Who knows what she was doing! She may have stolen data, codes." Ironwood argued.

"Well, yelling isn't going to find her." Glynda countered.

"What if she stole something **she** wanted! We can't just wait around-!" several beeps silenced the General as the door opened to a nervous Ruby who wandered in.

"H-Hi, umm, sorry I'm late. Someone hit all the buttons to all the floors and...umm, it wasn't me, honest." Ruby let out a nervous laugh.

"It's fine Ruby, how are you feeling?" Ozpin asked, concerned.

"Fine, I guess. I'd feel better if my bad guy catching record hadn't increased to 0 out of 3." Ruby joked to a silent room "Okay, that's the tone of the room, got it."

"Ruby, despite that, I feel it is appropriate to let you know that I think what you did last night was exactly what I believe being a huntress is all about. You recognised a threat and you took action. No one will fault you for that."

"I really didn't recognise it, Poppi saw something for a sec and we agreed to follow it and well, turns out it was that woman. Speaking of, how is she?" Ruby asked looking at Ozpin and Glynda.

"Don't worry, they know. And Poppi, the best way to put it is, she's damaged, but she'll be fine." Ruby sighed hearing that.

"Now Ruby, this is the document the General wants you to sign. I've read it, Professor Goodwitch has read it. It pretty much says that you cannot talk about what Poppi is to anyone except myself, the General or Professor Goodwitch at risk of imprisonment. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I get it. I wasn't planning on telling anyone anyway." Ruby commented signing it.

"Well then, now I believe it is time we discuss that woman." Ironwood said, frowning.

* * *

WB + Nero sat in RWBY's dorm, waiting for the team leader and Yang to return. Weiss sat loading fresh dust into Myrtenaster, Blake lay reading a brown book that lacked a cover while Nero was on the floor with a blue dust crystal Weiss had given her. She was carving an odd symbol into it with her whip's blade when Yang walked into the room with a cylinder in brown paper.

"Yo, got the mail." she announced placing it down.

"What is it?" Blake asked.

"Whatever it is, it's from Dad. So when Ruby's back, we'll open it."

"When will Miss Rose return? Don't you have a meeting or something to that effect." Nero asked, still carving.

"Probably soon." the door opened as Ruby walked it "See?"

The three RWBY members ran over to her.

"So, how'd it go?" Yang asked.

"Umm, well, ah, you know...I said she said they had a base in the southeast?" Ruby stated shrugging.

Weiss facepalmed.

* * *

Morag and Poppi arrived to an argument.

"Why must your answer to everything be a brute force display of military bravado! Ruby was lying, she changed her story mid telling. This is a ploy if ever I've seen one. Her team knows more than they're letting on!"

"It doesn't matter. She said they're there. So we send in as many troops as possible and root out any forces there."

"Why must you turn everything into a contest of measuring you military dic-" Morag coughed "Oh, good, this will solve it. Poppi, did that woman mention anything about a base in the southeast last night?" Glynda asked, well, mostly demanded.

"Umm…" Poppi rolled her eyes "Poppi not remember, memory scrambled from fight." she lied _Friend must have lied, so Poppi go along with. It important...probably._

Glynda growled at the response. She wasn't stupid.

"I'm guessing that there is a conflict of ideals?" Morag guessed.

"James, when it comes to situations like this, you must tread carefully. We cannot incite panic or fear from shipping unholy amounts of troops to a remote area and blasting it until it's glass. As much as I wish for this to end quickly, a lighter touch may be required."

"Indeed General, mobilising an army from what sounds like a rumour is not a good choice of strategy. A small strike team is more along the right line." Morag added.

"My thoughts exactly."

"What do you mean Oz…" Ironwood noticed Ozpin's smirk "No, you can't be serious."

"They are quite skilled, and I believe that they'd have a extra member willing to help them." Ozpin stated drinking from his cup.

"If that's your plan, then they more than just the five and a huntsman. Someone strong, competent and who knows about Blades to ensure that Nero doesn't do anything stupid." Ironwood mused.

"Who do you have in mind."

"Well, they have to look like a student…" he glanced towards Morag and Poppi.

* * *

Ruby finished explaining what happened to her team + Nero, leaving out the part about Poppi.

"Ruby, that was incredibly risky." Weiss stated arms folded.

"No, I think you handled it well." Blake countered.

"As long as that woman you were with lies too, it should be fine Miss Rose." Nero added.

"I hope it'll be okay…" Ruby whispered.

"Don't worry Ruby, i'll be fine. But I know what'll cheer you up." Yang stepped back and grabbed the mail tube.

"What's that?"

"No clue, but it's from Dad."

"Ohhh! Something from home!" Ruby squealed suddenly disappearing in a burst of rose petals and appearing on Yang's back, hastily unwrapping the tube.

Yang turned it upside down shook it, a furry cylinder falling out. The five all looked at it as it hopped twice, before it popped into a more recognisable shape...a small corgi. Ruby jumped off Yang as the dog barked.

"Zwei!" she cheered scooping him up.

"He sent a dog!" "In the mail?!" Weiss and Blake exclaimed.

Nero grabbed the tube.

"H-How did he do that?" she questioned looking into the vast void in the tube.

She stuck her arm in and found that it fully went, past what should be it's bottom.

"Okay, that's not possible!" Blake yelled in disbelief as Nero rooted around in the container.

"Don't worry, he does stuff like this all the time." Yang shrugged.

"Your father or your dog?" Weiss questioned.

"H-Help, my arm is stuck." Nero pleaded as she waved the tube that had devoured her arm around.

Blake jumped up onto Ruby's bed and grabbed the mail cylinder, pulling it as Nero wiggled her arm trying to pull it free, being held by it the air though. As they did this, Zwei won over Weiss with his cute doggy face.

" **Will all first year students please report to the amphitheater."** Glynda announced over the intercom.

"Well, what do we do? We can't leave him here alone for a week while we're gone." Weiss wondered.

"Don't worry Weiss, I doubt I'm going on a missioooon!-" Nero stretched out in surprise as she fell to the floor, her arm freed and holding a letter.

"Oh hey, a letter. 'Dear girls, I've got to leave the island for a few days, so I'm sending you Zwei to look after for a while. Enclosed is all the food he'd need. Love you both, Taiyang.'" Yang read.

Blake raised an eyebrow and shook the tube, a cascade of tinned dog food falling out and landing on Nero, crushing her.

"Oww…" she moaned.

"How is she supposed to open them for him?"

Blake wiggled the cylinder as Nero's hand escaped the pile, a can opener falling out and impaling it. It twitched in pain as they grimaced. Weiss gently pulled it out.

"Thanks…" Nero whispered as she burst free from the tins.

"Well, that settles that, come on girls, let's get this over with." Yang announced walking out of the room.

Weiss followed as she said goodbye to Zwei, Nero rubbed her hand running after her, the wound healing. Blake jumped onto a desk and out the door. Ruby looked at the panting Zwei. After a second, she smiled.

* * *

Morag and Nia stood at the back of the amphitheater with Kora and Perun beside them. Poppi had wandered off back to the library, a place that she was starting to become a frequent visitor to. Nia looked up at Morag scowling.

"I don't wanna go babysitting some kids Morag." Nia complained.

"Come on Nia, it'll be fun! You'll get to fight some monsters and see the world." Kora argued.

"Nia, I understand it may put you out, but from the sound of it, this is quite important mission."

"Then why are they sending some kids on it?"

"I believe the reason was 'because they would attempt to go anyway'." Perun stated remember the abridged version Morag had told them.

"Ouuf, this is a pain." Nia scoffed and stepped into the side door away from the gathering students and summoned her scimitar.

She walked back in, frowning.

"Still not happy."

Morag looked back to the main entrance and spotted team RWBY + Nero entering the hall.

"It is those five there." she pointed at the group.

Nia just grumbled and folded her arms. The team stood in the back as Nero looked around before running to the back of the Atlas students, remembering that she was supposed to be one. After another minute, Glynda stepped onto the stage.

"Quiet, quiet please. Professor Ozpin would like to say a few words before we begin." she called out to the chatting crowd, the room going quiet.

Ozpin walked up to the microphone and planted his cane down, leaning on it as he began.

"Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four Kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself, color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither were the generations to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity, through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, huntsmen and huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission.-" as Ozpin gave his speech, Kora put her hands on her hips.

"This is the speech he wanted us to hear, it's soooo boring." she whispered.

"Hmm, it appears that no matter where you are, even if a greater threat looms, people will always find a way to ignore the common goal to fight for clashing ideals."

"A war to destroy individualism and art? (Sigh) Humans come up with such odd things to fight for." Perun commented.

"Indeed we do. A suppression of creativity and emotions to lower Grimm attacks. In principle, a perfectly logical decision. But in reality, a travesty that couldn't be allowed. Mantle, or Atlas now attempted to push this idea onto others, with Mistral compiling...to an extent. Vaceo stayed out of geopolitics while Vale struggled to reason with them. In the end, the tense grew too great, and as the saying goes, what does not bend only breaks." Ozpin suddenly said walking into view.

"Hmm, well, it ended 80 years ago, and everything's fine now, right?" Nia asked.

"Well, yes, to an extent. After all, some believe unity creates monotony. Peace has its own problems. Especially to those who only thrive in conflict."

"That's ominous." Perun whispered.

"Anyway, enough about that, am I right in assuming that you are Miss Nia?" he asked Nia, looking down.

"Just Nia's fine, so, those lot struggling with the screen the ones right?" she pointed her scimitar at RWBY wishing to confirm what Morag had said.

"Indeed they are, let's go help them out, shall we?" he asked in a whimsical tone.

"Uhh, this is gonna be hell." Nia groaned.

* * *

"We mail ourselves there." Ruby suggested.

"Well, that is one option." the voice made the group turn.

Professor Ozpin and a short cat faunus holding a crystalline scimitar walked up to them.

"Unfortunately, we determined the Grimm concentration of that area to be too extreme for first year students. It seems that that particular region is rather popular though. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that you all would find a way to get there no matter the mission you choose." Ozpin added with a smile.

WBY + Nero all looked at Ruby who was rubbing her neck and blushing. Ozpin began to type something onto his Scroll.

"I am still curious as to how all of you ended up at that dock last semester, I'm interested in how you managed to find out about this hideout from a woman who didn't speak and how you all wound up engaging an experiment piece of technology that resulted in a bit of an informational breach and a new friend." he asked himself more than the group.

"Wha' the hell have you lot been up to?" the faunus asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uhhmm...uh, well, you see…-" "Miss Rose, I think you should just stop." Nero interrupted her stammering.

"(Sigh) I guess I'll never find my answers to these puzzling questions." the screen in front of them beeped as their request went through "So, how about this, instead of waiting for you to break the rules, why don't we bend them a little." he finished.

"T-Thank you Professor."

"Oh, don't thank me. Teamwork and persistence has carried you this far, but you must understand that the things that await you outside the Kingdom's walls will stop at nothing to tear you down, they will not care for your wishes or hopes. You will be facing dangers beyond your teams power. That's why I think a little help is in order. Poor Nero's team couldn't make it in time of the missions, but that's no reason to exclude her." Nero smiled as said that "Well, one other member did manage to arrive in time. Team RWBY, meet Nia, a 'student' from Atlas and a member of Nero's...team." he glanced to the side.

"Yo, I'm here to stop ya from dyin'" she gave a half-hearted smirk.

"Although there will be more of you then usually, stay close you your huntsman, listen to everything he says and know that can will send you back to Beacon if he finds you skills unsatisfactory…" Ozpin rounded a corner. "Good luck." he added sticking his head out.

After a few awkward seconds, Yang broke the silence.

"You are really short."

"Oh we are going to get on fantastically." Nia mocked.

"Umm, who will feed Mr Zwei?" Nero asked.

"Ehh, he's a smart dog, he'll figure it out."

The now group of six exited Beacon's front entrance, Yang sighing.

"Well, that wasn't exactly uplifting…"

"But it was the true, I mean, he let Nero come and gave her a teammate because he thought we needed it." Blake added.

"It's gonna be tough, but I know we can do it-" a male student ran by Ruby.

"Hey, team CFVY is back!" he yelled.

Team RWBY all looked surprised and ran over to the group of four, leaving Nero and Nia behind.

"Who're they?" she asked.

"I believe they are friends of the team Miss Nia." Nero answered.

"Just Nia is fine. Anyway, now that they're distracted, I wanna ask you somethin'." she turned to Nero "You like being that girls Blade?"

"What? Of course. Weiss is my friend, we've already have plans for later in life and...wait, how did you know…?"

"Well, let's just say I know a thing or two about Blades." Nia tapped her chest, her finger hitting something sticking out of it under her jumpsuit "Why'd ya think they asked me to come along. I look the most human,...faunus."

That's when Nero noticed that her scimitar had a weapon crystal that was tainted red in it.

"Oh…"

"Alright, let's get goin'." Nia stated grabbing Nero and leading her to a waving Ruby _Sorry General what'syourface, looks like Nero's gonna be staying with her Driver with that response._

"Well guys, together I know that we can accomplish our mission, especially with two more people helping out. And besides, we're also going to have a genuine huntsman helping us, it's going to be awesome!" Ruby cheered.

Footsteps made the group turn to face an unexpected sight.

"Why hello girls! Who's ready to fight for their lives?" Dr Oobleck asked with a smile.

Nia glanced over team RWBY to see various levels of shock and surprise. Nero broke the silence.

"Oh, this will be fun." she smiled, Oobleck nodding, his grin growing larger.

* * *

AN: Hello, have a new chapter curacy of insomnia. So, I was actually gone of ten days on a college field trip and it was bloody awful. It rained sideways at one point.

Anyway, forget that, my internet is fixed, so yeah, that's not a problem now.  
I'm excited for the next few chapters, especially the train. I've had plans for that and Breach for a bit.

A final thing to this short AN, the fact that Vol 6 of RWBY started and I only found out today because they aren't putting it on youtube is annoying. I get it, youtube has become a mess, but I don't really ever go to the RT site and even then, the site's player is real buggy on the laptop I use. It's just annoying.

Anyway, enjoy.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter seventeen: Land of ruins

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

RWBY still stood in shock as the Professor stood up straight.

"Professor Oobleck…?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

"Yes indeed girls. Now, any bags you have will not be necessary seeing as you opted to shadow a huntsman on what is now effectively a reconnaissance mission, we will not be making any permanent base of operations, instead trekking through miles of dangerous and hazardous urban wasteland, making camp in any defensible location we may find along the way. I have packed all essentials myself, provided the air course and prepared the airship. And finally…" he appeared in front of Weiss' face "It's Dr Oobleck, I didn't do my PhD for fun thank you very much. Now come along students! According to my schedule we are 4 minutes behind...schedule." he finished sprinting off to the airship.

After a second, Nia groaned.

"Uhh, who pissed in his coffee?" she wondered.

"Hey, come on guys, it'll be fine! We're just gonna save the world with Dr Oobleeeck okay that sounds pretty bad." Ruby changed gear mid way through her sentence.

"I find Mr...umm...Mr...Mr Dr Oobleck quite interesting. When I understand him." Nero commented.

"The fact that you have to try to understand him is a bad sign." Blake sighed.

Just as they were about to walk to the ship, someone caught Weiss' eye. She saw her sister off to the side with a soldier. She turned to her team.

"Umm, sorry, can I have a minute?" she asked before running off, Nero running after her.

"Wha…? Hey, the Doctor guy said we're already late!" Nia called after them.

Before anyone could say anything, RBY had started talking to another group of teens, leaving Nia split between them.

 _I don't want to be here, and yet I'm the one takin' this seriously. What the hell?_ She questioned to herself.

Weiss reached Winter as Nero caught up, the specialist noticing her sister and dismissing the soldier.

"Hello Weiss, Nero. Today is your first mission, yes?" she asked.

"Yep, Weiss, her team, me and Miss Nia are all going out with Mr Dr Oobleck." Nero answered.

Winter raised her eyebrow at two different points. The first, Nia was accompanying them, which she thought was...odd. And what she had called Oobleck. A symptom of Oobleck's need for all to know of his PhD probably, which mostly confused her way of speaking. Not that it really mattered.

"Well, good luck. And remember, you are forever representative of the Schnee name, ensure that you show any you see the grace and power of a Schnee." Winter ordered, although it was obvious it was more a rehearsed line for any situation.

"Of course Winter."

"Now, I will be leaving for the next week as this was out of my free time, but I believe I will be returning for the tournament. Try to behave yourselves until I return." she stated to the two.

"Hey!"

"Don't worry Miss Schnee, I'll keep Weiss out of trouble." Nero joked.

"Hey!" Weiss yelled again, agitated.

"SIX minutes girls!" Oobleck shouted.

"Well, off you go."

Winter watched as team RWBY + Nero and Nia all climbed aboard the airship and it sped off. After a minute of watching it shrink and fade away into the clouds, she Scroll beeped. And then it beeped again, and again. She pulled it out to find an email from her father, then another and another. She scowled.

"What does he want?" she muttered.

The first was just a mess of sentences that leaked anger, with an attached link. Clicking on it, Winter froze. It was an online tabloid.

 **Schnee spotted with unreputable girl with unnatural tattoos?!**

The image along with it was one of the back of Weiss and Nero, the Blade's markings visible. Winter returned her to emails and opened the second, consisting of calmer message that demanded to know who the girl was and why she was with Weiss, followed by a speech about honour and appearance. She scoffed at that.

 _Hmm, honour, from you?_

The last was a short message asking Winter to get Weiss to call him as she was ignoring his messages. Winter shook her head and typed 'Weiss on a mission, she can't talk.' and sent it.

"That should shut him up a bit...but this is bad…" she whispered turning away from the flight harbour.

* * *

The group of seven stood looking out at the ruins that where now speeding past them, some distance below. Team RWBY where holding straps on the roof, Nia and Nero leaned against the unopened side of the ship while Oobleck stood steady footed next to the team. Yang turned to the doctor, choosing to end the trip's silence.

"Well, I never really saw you as much of a fighter." she stated looking at Oobleck.

"I admit, I do more fancy myself as an intellectual, but I can assure you that as a huntsman, I've had my fair share of tussles." Oobleck reassured.

"Like the mushroom…?" Ruby asked, confused.

"Those are truffles." Blake corrected.

"Like the sprout…?"

"Those are brussels." Yang corrected.

"Besides, given my expertise in the field of history as well as my dabblings in the archaeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw fit to assign me to this particular... assignment!" he added.

The conversation continued, with Oobleck being up the importance of history, sidetracking himself, and then continuing with history. As this was happening, Nia smirked.

 _Heh, ya know, he reminds me of Adenine. I bet they'd have a field day with each other._ She thought.

After another minute of talking and then silence, the ship began to descend into the ruined city, the husks of the buildings threatening to collapse from a good shock to their cracked bases. The group jumped out a metre above the ground, the airship leaving. They all glanced around the area. Apart from the low whirl of the now distant ship and a haunting quiet howl of wind, it was silent, dead. Nia grimaced at the sight.

"This is just like Morytha…" she whispered inaudible.

"Ladies, you all may be still students...to varying degrees." he unnoticeably glanced at Nia "but as of this moment your first mission as huntresses has begun. From this moment, you all need to do exactly as I say." Oobleck ordered placing the thermos he was holding up to his chest, leaving a coffee stain.

Nero generated her skirt and pulled off a piece, splashing Oobleck's shirt before pulling it off, the coffee washing out. Nero skirt then filled in the slight dent.

"Thank you, now does everyone understand-Ruby! I thought I told you to leave all bags and baggage back at the school?" he yelled suddenly turning to Ruby, having noticed her backpack.

"Umm, well, you hadn't told us to listen to you yet. So I didn't."

Everyone visible deadpanned at the answer, Weiss even facepalming.

"She's not wrong…" Oobleck muttered, Yang facepalming "Well, you can leave it here and we will pick it up when we are returning. The Grimm should ignore it, unless it has snacks, in which dispose of them first." Oobleck ordered.

"Umm, but I-" "Young lady, what could you possible have in that bag that is so important that you cannot leave it behi-" he was cut off by Zwei popping out of the bag, panting.

Everyone...just...stared.

"Get back in the bag…" Ruby whispered.

"So that's how Mr Zwei would be fine with me gone." Nero said scratching her cheek.

"Wait, kid, are you sayin' that you decided it'd be a good idea to bring a stubby dog into a dangerous ruined city full of monsters that we have trek miles through everyday?" Nia asked, dumbfounded.

"I...I…-" "Genius!" Oobleck yelled speeding by everyone and grabbing Zwei "Canines are historically known for their perceptive noses and heightened sense of sound! Making it an excellent companion for our hunt." he added spinning around with Zwei.

"Hmm, I'm a genius." Ruby boasted, smiling.

"No Miss Rose, just...no…" Nero held her head in her hand "Just, what do we do Mr Dr Oobleck…"

Oobleck opened his mouth to correct Nero before closing it after hearing doctor. He then smiled.

"Yes, straight to the point, I like it! As you have been informed the southeast has been marked as a recent hotspot of Grimm activity. Now, there are several possible explanation for this behavior. The first being Grimm…" Oobleck stopped unconsciously putting Zwei under his arm like a bag, the dog looking around panting.

"Uhh, what?"

"A creature of Grimm, approximately one hundred metres behind you at this very moment." he finished.

The group turned to see a Beowolf wander out of an alley. Everyone quickly took out their weapons and just before they could move, Oobleck inhaled.

"Stop."

"Wait, why?" Ruby asked.

"There are a number of reasons why Grimm will congregate in this particular area, the most likely of which will be their attraction to negativity. Sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred. All qualities that are likely held by our hidden group harboring ill intent." he explained

"So, What do we do?" Nero asked

"We wait, we track. If this specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey."

"And how long will that take?" Yang asked impatiently.

"It's uncertain. Hours, days, weeks. Why, lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated from the pack for months-and there's the whole pack." Oobleck stated drinking some coffee, the lone Grimm being joined by several more.

"What?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

"And now they've seen us." Oobleck finished as a Grimm looked and snarled at them.

"What?!"

"AND NOW THEY'VE SEEN US!" Oobleck yelled, repeating himself.

The shout alerted the rest of the group that all turned and began charging.

"Uff, ya idiot!" Nia yelled at the doctor.

"Umm, I guess we can't track them anymore, can we?" Ruby asked.

"An accurate assumption, yes."

"Then wants the plan then?" Yang wondered, a bit annoyed.

"Show me what you're capable of." he replied.

* * *

As the Grimm continued to charge, the group all readied themselves, with Ruby taking the initiative, aiming with her sniper rifle.

"Cover your eyes boy." Zwei as she opened fire, each bullet taking a head off a Grimm.

Yang rushed forward and caved in a Beowolf's skull with a single punch, running on past it to continue pummeling the Grimm, few surviving past one hit. Blake stood off to the side, the Grimm encircling her. As one charged forward, she dodged and left a shadow copy of herself, bisecting the confused wolf straight after. She continued to do this, the Grimm refusing to catch on as Weiss jumped and avoided claw after claw. She quickly stabbed and jabbed the Grimm between bone plating, the Grimm slowing from injury before Weiss finished them with a stab through the head. Nero slashed and lashed with her whip, the Grimm kept at bay by the watery rope. The bladed spike wounded the creatures, Nero wrapping it around the leg of one before using it as a flail, slamming it into other Grimm. Nia ducked and dodged, easily evading them. She slashed at random Grimm, her scimitar slicing through hide and plating, her core chip in her weapon clearly too strong for the Grimm. She pierced one's side, smiling.

"Water flower." she whispered, a flower made of water erupting from the monster, tearing it apart.

The fighting continued for some time, not really challenging the group, only tiring them due to the constant hoards of Grimm. After another minute, the world fell silent.

"Well done girls, but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any signs of criminal operations in this sector. Oh well, moving one."

"Hey, Doc, I was actually looking forward to seeing a pro huntsman in action, like fighting...at all?" Yang complained.

"Mr Dr Oobleck seems more interested in the ruins and plants then the Grimm." Nero added ripping her whip blade out of a Grimm.

"Exactly Nero, I'm scanning the area and ruins of this once fine city for any signs of irregularities or abnormal going ons." Oobleck excitedly stated with smile "Not all missions are high risk daring bouts of heroism, somethings it's just a scouting mission or simply extermination. Exactly what you signed up for...have you forgotten?"

"What?...N-No, of course not."

"I see."

* * *

Nero aimed and launched her whip's blade into a Grimm's eye, the creature staggering back, clutching it. She rushed in and extended the bladeless water and whipped the Beowolf's hide, before lashing at the blade, the water grabbing it. She yanked it free, jumping over the Grimm spinning, her whip slashing the poor creature's head and shoulder. As it fell, Oobleck wandered over, examining a grey flower in a wall crack.

"So, Nero, as I've asked others, I'll raise this question to you, why do you wish to be a huntress." Oobleck asked.

 _Oh yeah, meant to be a student..._ she thought.

"Well, I don't know what anyone else has said, but I...I just wish to help Weiss." she answered honestly.

"Just help Weiss? No lofty goals, ambitions?" he suggested.

"Weiss, she's the only person I really know, at all. She probably didn't say it to you, but she's...suffered, been hurt. She's been alone so long, she wants to bring the Schnee name back to the light. And I...promised I'd be there, to help her, protect her. If something happens or I don't ever become a huntress or whatever for some reason, if the world chooses to drag her down? I'll be there, for her. I. Won't. Leave her." Nero explained walking up to the near dead Grimm, crushing it's neck with her boot, the shadowy wolf beginning to fade.

"Hmm, yes, good answer." he whispered.

Nia slashed an Ursa's chest and dodged a heavy swing, cutting off the arm. She stabbed a knee and sliced its head clean off with a single strike. A Beowolf lunged at her, but she ducked under it and jumped onto it's spiky back, stabbing through it. Oobleck bent down and jotted down something in a journal, examining the wound.

"And Nia, well, from how you talk and what you called Ruby earlier, I'm guessing you're not as young as you look." Oobleck pondered standing up.

"That obvious? Well, I wasn't really hidin' it." Nia replied shaking off some misty residue from her scimitar.

"I'm guessing, James sent you to keep an eye on everyone."

"Well Doc, that Ozpin agreed. And well, although I didn't have to go, Morag asked and well, I'll do a favour for her, not General Ironface." Nia sneered.

"I see, a hired mercenary rather then a soldier."

"Naw, not like that. Some...stuff happened in Atlas which messed up myself and a few friends' plans, and lives and while they fix it, we're kinda just helpin' out." Nia half explained "(sigh) Now you've got me wondering how everyone's doin'. Rex'll be fine, he's Pyra and Mythra. Dromarch is probably freckin' out. Tora has his Da and Lila and shell'ead is most likely being...Zekey." she wondered out loud, Oobleck bashing in a stray Grimm's head with a hit of his thermos as Nia stared off, distracted.

"Mind your surrounding Nia, this place is not very hospitably. But, just because your friends should be fine without you, doesn't mean they are. After all, bonds are what give so many purpose, drive. If the world thought like that, it would fall apart. So don't dismiss your worries. I bet more than your friend Dromarch is worried. Peter would run howling for revenge and be worried sick if I up and disappeared."

"Heh, yeah, They're probably tearin' their hair out."

"Indeed."

* * *

After another few minutes, the group joined back up, everyone staring confused at Ruby who was playing with Zwei with a cooked chicken toy stabbed onto her scythe's spike on the end. She quickly folded it away as she spotted everyone.

"Uhh, sorry! Are we ready to keep going?" Ruby asked nervously.

"No, I believe that will have to do for today. It'll be night soon." Oobleck took off his bag and chucked it at the group, Nia sidestepping it, causing it to hit Nero in the stomach. She released a pained wheeze as Yang took the bag.

"You five set up camp in that building there and make sure there are none of those creatures still roaming around. Your leader and I will secure the perimeter. Come Ruby." he gestured walking off, Ruby and Zwei following.

The three walked off, leaving WBY, Nero and Nia standing there.

"Well, let's go I guess." Yang said walking into the building.

The group climbed up several flights of stairs, stopping on the walked down a short corridor and came to an uncollapsed door. Inside was a mostly intact room. Nero and Nia began to shift and move rubble, discovering only a single Grimm. A dog sized scorpion. Nia stabbed it through with her scimitar. As Blake took out several bed roll, Yang pulled out a fire starter, and some logs, all from Oobleck's bag. Weiss ignited the starter with a small amount of burn dust. After the fire was truly going, Yang sighed.

"I can't believe we didn't find anything…"

"We've always been fortunate to be at the right place at the right time. I guess we can't always rely on luck." Blake added.

"Wait, what are you lot even lookin' for anyway?" Nia asked.

"Secret base of terrorists."

"Wait wait, what?"

As the three continued on, Weiss leaned against a wall, frowning. Her response to Oobleck troubling her.

"That's not what I meant…" she whispered.

"What's wrong Weiss?" Nero walked over.

"Earlier, about what I said about upholding a legacy...there's more to it then that…" she continued.

"Uh huh, Mr Dr Oobleck knows that. He asked me what I wanted to do and I said help you. I didn't go into anything, but I said...you wanted to restore the Schnee name. That...you were hurt...and that I'd protect you." Nero hugged Weiss.

"Wha…? Nero, stop it…" she weakly protested.

The sight made Nia smile.

 _Yeah, definitely not takin' her away._

"Ahh, a textbook campfire." Oobleck announced walking in.

"*Gasp* Fire!" Ruby rushed the fire "So warm…"

"Very good, eat your dinners and hurry off to bed. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode, any volunteers?" Oobleck scanned the group.

"Yo." Ruby raised her hand.

At the response, Oobleck sped off as Ruby went to take her position, but Yang stopped her.

"Hey, did Oobleck ask you why you wanted to be a huntress?"

"Hmm, no…, huh, weird. Oh well, goodnight guys." Ruby brushed off the thought.

Everyone then lay down and attempted to sleep, only Nero and Nia actually succeeding, missing the conversation between WBY. After an hour and a half, Ruby went to wake up Yang for the next watch, only to find Nero sitting up, awake.

"Don't need a lot of sleep." she whispered, smiling.

Ruby nodded and got onto her bed roll.

* * *

Lying face down, partial asleep, Ruby heard Zwei stand, bark and run off.

"Uhh, Zwei, it's late, go back to…, h-hey, Zwei, come back!" Ruby whispered watching the dog hobble off.

She quietly got up and looked around at the asleep group, except Nero who was on watch. She sighed, grabbing Crescent Rose and quietly sprinting after her dog. She reached the outside of their temporary base and spotted Zwei peeing on a stone pillar, prompting Ruby to sigh again.

"Zwei, this is a wasteland, you could have peed anywhere." she complained, Zwei barking back an answer.

"What was that?" someone asked.

Ruby froze for a second before grabbing Zwei and quickly sidestepping behind a building. She peeked out to see two white fang members wandering nearby.

"I thought I heard a Beowolf." one said, looking around.

"Come on man, let's go just finish our patrol and head back." the other retorted, clearly bored.

"This place gives me the creeps."

The two began to walk off. Ruby dropped Zwei and chased after, ducking and dodging between buildings and rubble. The two rounded a corner and she followed, stopping as one began to turn. She pulled back and after a second, held Zwei out around the corner.

"Are they gone in yet. One bark is yes."

After a few seconds, a distant rumble sounded and Zwei barked. Ruby smiled.

"Hee, we found them, I gonna call the others." she pulled out her Scroll, but there wasn't any signal "Ohh...we have to get everyone."

She sighed and began running back, calling Zwei over. But then the ground sank slightly and cracked, before giving way. Ruby yelped in surprise and grabbed the hole's side with one hand, and a falling Zwei with another. She threw the dog to safety.

"Z-Zwei, go! Get everyonnnee!" the side gave way, Ruby plummeting below the ground.

Ruby fell a large distance before hitting the ground, her arua stopping her back breaking. She staggered to her feet and looked around, the large cavern she had fallen into filled with more ruins and rubble. She looked down over the edge before a door opened behind her.

"Now, who are you?" "Not meant to be here, that's for certain." duel voices wondered.

Ruby turned to see a woman split between a pale and burnt side, smiling. She took a few steps back as the woman approached, nearly falling off the building they were on.

"Come now girl, you're quite far from your home, yes?" "Allow me to bring you somewhere...safer. There are fang bearing beasts about." she stated using a weapon crystal to summon weapons, attaching them together, two white fang members wielding guns coming from behind her.

 _Huh, that's like Nero. Is she a blade person?_

The woman reached out her hand, prompting Ruby to take it. She responded by reaching for her weapon, and upon realising it was gone, slapping her hand away and punching the woman in the stomach. She frowned.

"Bad girl." "Time for a lesson." she struck Ruby in the forehead with the shaft part of her weapon and grabbed her arms as she staggered back.

A black flame poured from her grip and engulfed Ruby's arm, who let out a pained scream, grabbing the burning cloth of her clothes. Her aura blocked the fire itself, but the heat scorched her skin a similar black as the flame. Ruby fell to a knee, trying to free herself before the Blade delivered a strong kick to her face with her bare foot, knocking her out. She sighed, the flames fading.

"You really should have listened/obeyed." her voices complained.

* * *

Ruby stirred, shaking her head as she noticed she was being carried over someone's shoulder. She looked around to see white fang members using paladins to move boxes and loading odd devices onto an old train. She glanced down at her wrist and grimaced at the blacked skin on her left arm. She struggled slightly and woman sighed.

"I won't try that." "Unless you want another burn." she warned.

She stopped after a few seconds.

"Oh Roman, I have a surprise for you." "An odd surprise."

"Is it good or bad Copal, because let me tell ya, I've been having a day."

"Hmm, well, it's a little red-red-red-" *slap* "Thanks Perry, a red hooded girl." Copal finished after her stammer attack.

Roman stuck his head out of the cart and frown, discarding his cigar.

"That would be bad."

* * *

 **Atlas, dust research facility.**

Dr Polendia stood in an observation room, staring at the mixing dust. He was starting to grow irritated by this...project he was working on.

"Add more gravity, the mix explodes more violently, add more burn or water, it bursts into goo filled steam. This is starting to go from vexing to just annoying." he muttered to himself.

This test involved adding more time dust, hoping that the dilation effect could slow down the explosiveness of the mix to allow it to be stable, for a time at least. The mix started to bubble and turn a dark purple, a contrast to the usual light purple.

"Hmm, maybe…"

* * *

 **Torna, Alrest, roughly 500 years ago**

A group of eleven stood in front of pool of purple bubbling ichor in the corner of a desert near their camp. A red haired woman frowned.

"What is this stuff?" she asked.

"From the look of it, it appears to be a corrupted spring Lady Lora. I think there's an ether miasma under the ground polluting the groundwater." a brown haired girl guessed.

"You're not wrong Haze, this used to be a spring travelers staying at the camp would use. But a few months back a foul smelling substance began seeping into it and within a week it was changed into this." a white haired man answered.

"Hmm, well, shall we see if we can fix it?" Lora suggested.

"Yeah, leave it to me and Haze, we'll fix it in no time." a blond girl announced, smirking.

"If you're plan is to completely destroy the spring, then yes, you two are perfect for the job." a blue haired and fire themed lady added.

"Indeed, instead of Haze suppressing it and you blasting it away, I believe I've a better solution." her companion said stepping forward "Haze will suppress it and force it deeper, while I draw fourth water from the source and let them mix. Over time, the springs toxins will be diluted and washed away. A lengthy process, but one that will avoid, destruction." he suggested.

"I like your thinking Aegaeon." the white haired man said pointing at him.

But before they could act, the bubbling increased.

"Is this thing deep or something?" the blond girl asked walking up to it and crouching, confused by the constant bubbles.

She summoned a large white and golden sword with green gems in the hilt and blade and dipped in the pool, sticking deeper after a second, the sword going deeper and deeper.

"Not that deep…how...?" but the pool began to glow as he spoke, ending with a rapid bubbling that resulted a low boom and a torrent of sludge surging out of the spring, blowing the girl back and fling her sword into the air, that then landed in goo, rapidly sinking.

"Mythra! Are you alright?!" the man asked running up to her.

"Yeah, yeah Addam, I'm fine." Mythra stood brushing some of the corrupted ether water off her outfit.

She looked back at the pool and held out her hand, attempting to either desummon her weapon or draw it to her, but nothing happened.

"Huh...eh, whatever." she shrugged, pulling out a new weapon crystal and reforming her sword.

"What's wrong Mythra?" Addam asked.

"My weapon won't come back, so I made a new one. No big deal."

He nodded as they turned back to the group, Haze and Aegaeon walking forward.

 **Atlas**

A low boom sounded and after a second, a torrent of dust erupted from the vat, spilling on the floor. Dr Polendia frowned at the mess.

"Not good enough…" he whispered before noticing something loosely embedded in the roof.

He step out of the room as it came free, falling and piercing the floor. A white and golden sword with a bit of green in it sat sticking out of the floor, some of the dust clinging to it. A green cross shaped gem sat in the hilt, glowing softly.

"Well, at least it isn't a person…"

* * *

AN: Hello, has anyone ever heard of the dolomite problem? I've been writing an essay on it the last few weeks, it's horrible. How are you.

Anyway, enough of that, so yeah, that's the problem that's been delaying me for a while, sorry. The worst part is that after I'm done, Winter test begin soon after. Yayyyy...

But don't worry, by the 14th I'll be done, and be able to write freely!...Until January or February. Then Europe's internet dies. Possible me along with it.

On that note, review, Pm, reverse time and stop Europe being stupid.  
Anyway, enjoy.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter eighteen: Dark, corrupt flames

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

Nero sat staring out into the night, nothing except the occasional howl breaking the silence. She looked at the moon, the white rock shattered from some unknown impact most likely. After another minute, a low rumble shook the area. Nero stood and turned to the sleeping group, probably too much time having passed between lookouts. As she walked to Weiss, she stopped.

"Miss Rose?" she whispered, glancing around "Miss Rose?"

"Umm...Nero...what's wrong…?" Yang asked, tired.

"Miss Rose, she isn't here."

"...What?!" Yang jumped up, her sudden movement waking everyone else as well.

"What was that?!" Oobleck rounded the corner, concerned.

As the group all got up, Zwei sprinted into the room, whimpering. He jumped onto the nearest person, which was Nia, continuing to whimper. Nia picked him off her head.

"Hey! What's wrong with ya? You look scared?" she asked the dog as he waggled his feet, desperate to continue moving.

"What's going on?" Weiss asked, confused.

"Everyone, grab your weapons, your leader may be in trouble." Oobleck warned "Nia, release Zwei, he may lead us to her." Nia dropped the dog, who promptly ran off, everyone giving chase.

The group ran out of the building, following Zwei. After two minutes, he lead them to a hole in the road, a familiar red scythe resting on the mouth of the hole, nearly falling in.

"Ruby's scythe!" Yang cried out as she ran to it, But Nia grabbed her.

"Hey, be careful, that ground's unstable, if you're not careful, you'll fall in." she explained.

"Do you think she fell into the hole?"

"Fell...?" Oobleck froze.

Nero detached her whip's blade and extended the watery rope. With a single downward swipe, her whip wrapped around the weapon's trigger and she pulled it to them, picking it up. It was heavier than she thought. Yang snatched the scythe as Nero reattached the blade.

"Oh my. Yes…, that's it! Of course, of course, of course!"

"Hey, doc, calm down, what's 'it'?" Nia wondered

"How could I be so stupid?!"

"I wouldn't say you're stupid Mr Dr Oobleck." Nero complemented.

"Mountain Glenn! Yes, an expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of Grimm. It was previously home to thousands of people. Working people commuting to the city, the main city! They developed a subway system to the inner city, but the Grimm attacks increased. With the population in danger, they now were desperately searching for a shelter. The city evacuates into the metro tunnels and what do they find? The southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!" Oobleck rapidly stated pacing back and forth, his rant clearly more of himself.

"Doc, what're you saying?" Yang questioned.

Oobleck grabbed Yang's shoulders.

"My dear, we're not just looking for an underground crime network, we're looking for an 'underground' crime network!" he yelled.

"So, they've been working in the cave networks?" Blake asked.

"No...no no, Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion. It worked for a short period of time, thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense, and unique transportation. The city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory into the main Kingdom! Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale had to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start. As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival, they took shelter beneath the city, in the massive caves that they had cleared out for use as the subway. And thus they cut themselves off from the surface." he finished, drinking more coffee.

"Okay, so you're sayin' they made an underground encampment?" Nia asked

"In a manner of speaking, yes. A safe haven until help arrive. But...an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern, filled with subterranean Grimm. They poured into the tunnels. After that, the kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels, trapping any poor soul still alive inside the cavern. It created the world's largest tomb."

"How could they do that?!" Weiss asked, shocked

"The lives of the few were give to seal the tunnels, saving the many, a difficult choice that someone had to make. If Ruby is down there...in that cave...we need to find her, fast." Oobleck pressed a button on his thermos, the drink holder extending into a bat-like weapon, a plume of fire burning from the top.

"Wait, were you drinkin' fuel all this time?" Nia asked, unnerved.

It didn't help that all Oobleck did was give a knowing smile as an answer. Zwei, ignorant to the situation, ran over to a sealed stone door, in slightly better condition to the rest of the ruins. Yang ran over.

"In here boy?" Zwei barked "Alright then!"

Yang grabbed the door's seam and after a bit of straining and grunting, ripped the door free from it's lock. Inside was a lone white fang member, stunned. As the group looked inside, the Faunus just placed his gun down.

"Yeah...nope, not dealing with this." he whispered kicking his gun away and sitting down.

"A wise choice my good sir." Oobleck nodded, everyone running down the stairs.

* * *

Roman jumped out of the train cart he was in and wandered over Copal and Ruby, a mix of a grin and a frown on his face.

"Copal, could you drop little red for a second?" he asked rhetorically.

The Blade just shrugged and dropped Ruby, the girl jumping to her feet. Before she move though, Roman struck her face with his cane and kicked her in the stomach. As she doubled over, he grabbed her hood and threw her to the ground.

"Mwah ha ha! Wow, you are SO much easier to deal with without that oversized gardening tool you lug around everywhere." Roman gloated leaning on his cane.

Ruby's only response was to rush him with her fist clenched, Roman easily sidestepping the feeble attempt.

"Ya know, I really needed this after the stress of dealing with some of the stupid stuff the Faunus keep doing. Thanks Copal." he walked over to Ruby "Okay, but seriously, how'd ya find this place Red?" he asked, curious.

Before he got his answer, the girl just disappeared, a flurry of petals swirling around where she just was. Copal pointed behind Roman, who turned to see Ruby sprinting away.

"(sigh) You never make things easy, do you Red?" he turned and flipped his cane, firing it's hooked handle. The hook snagged Ruby's hood and she was dragged back to him "Not yet Red, so let me make this clear, we have more to discuss."

An explosion shook the area as he finished, and he glanced at the group.

"Will someone please go tell them to STOP BLOWING STUFF UP ALREADY! I'm kinda in the middle of something a tiny bit important." he shouted, beyond angry.

Another explosion followed by a gout of fire and flying bodies signaled that it was more than some idiots this time.

"What is going on here!?" he yelled at no one.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

The moment the group exited the stairs, they were met with a group of white fang grunts.

"What the hel-?" the aware grunt was silenced by a punch to the face that sent him flying.

The rest turned towards the five girls and huntsman. Nero extended her whip and swiped it low, the rope tripping most of the group and wrapping around the last one's leg. Nero flung her into a wall as the groups rushed past the tripped grunts. Several more took notice and ran towards them. Weiss spun her rapier's chamber, the dust revolver landing on burn dust. A fireball formed at the weapon's tip as red glyphs appeared in tandem, each launching fire. The flames blasted away the Faunus. The few remaining were slashed and pushed aside by Blake, rushing further on. A stray flame ignited a container of dust, triggering an explosion. Oobleck launched his own flame from his bat, igniting another round of dust, blowing nearby enemies away. Then they heard someone yell.

"What is going on here?!"

A few white fang members began running, firing back at them.

"R-Run!" "Huntress!" "Forget this, I'm out of here!"

Nero jumped in front of the group, summoning her shield, the bullets bouncing off. That only seemed to scare the Faunus more. As they continued on, Nia leaned into her.

"Remember, no attention drawing" she warned.

"Oh, yeah...sorry."

They rounded a corner and spotted several train cars, along with two familiar faces.

Ruby, seeing an opening, lept onto Roman's head, forcing his hat down over his eyes, before bunny hopping off, breaking into a semblance fueled sprint. Copal frowned as Ruby ran and Roman struggled with his hat.

"Shot her!" "BURN HER!" she yelled, holding up a hand.

Within a second, black hellfire began raining down on Ruby, who struggled to dodge it among the hail of bullets. What didn't help was the fact that the flames seemed to snake around the the ground, chasing her as it hit the ground.

"Attach that cart, and spread the word! We. Are Leaving." Roman ordered, frustrated at the escaping Ruby, bending his cane.

"Roman, we are not to leave for-" Roman surprised Copal by shoving his cane into her throat, pushing her into the wall "Do it, NOW!" he released her, running off.

Copal frowned.

"You are going to regret this…" "Cinder will kill you." she warned.

"Not if I kill you first for not listening!"

"Just try…" she gloated in both voices with a smirk.

The gun fire and literal fire grinded to a halt, allowing Ruby to move without dodging, but as she looked behind her, she ran face first into the fleeing white fang. Ruby swallowed as the Faunus turned to her, but they were blasted away before any could react.

"Ruby!" Yang scooped up her sister as she yelled, relieved.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked, worried

"I'm fine, I'm fine-Ow!" Ruby yelped as Yang accidentally crushed her burnt arm.

"Oof, that looks a bit nasty." Nia grimaced at the blackened skin.

"Rrrah, who did this to you!?" Yang yelled, her eyes flaring red.

"Yang, I'm fine, really! Please listen, Torchwick's got all kinds of weapons, mechs, robots, stuff like that down there." Ruby warned as she spotted her weapon held in Yang's hand.

"What?! How?" Blake wondered

"So all these train bits are filled with weapons?" Nero asked.

"No that's ridiculous. These tunnels are sealed, the tracks lead to a dead-end. There's no place to move them to on the line." Oobleck explained.

 **"Get to your places, we are leaving now!"** someone announced over an intercom.

As soon as the voice cut off, the train came to life, sounding its horn as the rusted model began to move, wheels grinding on rust.

"Well, it sounds like they're going somewhere!" Yang yelled over the noise.

"We need backup. Let me call Jaune…" her Scroll came up with the message, 'low signal' "No, I can't get through!"

"Ruby, Jaune would really not be any help." Weiss deadpanned.

"So, what should we do?" Nia asked as the train was finally picking up speed "Because we're runnin' outta time!"

"I believe we only have one option…" Oobleck started "We're stopping that train!" Ruby finished Oobleck's sentence.

"Then maybe we should hurry?" Nero added.

"Hmm, you're right...let's go!"

* * *

Copal sat in the cart behind the main train, the sound of grinding rust driving her mad. She sighed.

"Cinder won't be happy." "This was meant for something next weeks." she whispered.

Her driver hadn't really told her much of her plan, but would upon arriving back at Vale. She wasn't so sure now as the train continued to race ahead. She glanced to the side, a heterochromic girl standing nearby. The girl gave a wide smile, an odd look in her eyes. A white fang member ran by them.

"Boss, they made it onto the train."

"Then grab some cargo...and get them OFF the train!" Roman replied.

At that yell, the two looked at each other.

"You inside." "Me on top?" Copal asked, the girl nodding.

* * *

"Hurry children! We need to get to the front and stop this train!"

Nia and Weiss opened a hatch to jump inside to advance, but stopped after looking inside.

"Umm, Professor, that's that?" Weiss asked, concerned, pointing at a large wired frame hooked up to a container of dust.

"Doctor...and that my dear, appears to be a bomb." he stated calmly.

"A-A BOMB?!" Nia yelled.

"Ehh, guy's, we got baddies!" Ruby pointed at the hoard of Faunus pouring out of the carts and climbing on top of the train.

"Well, I didn't expect them-" the bomb started flashing "easy on us…, well, time to go!...Right now!" he ordered as they all jumped to the next cart.

"Blake, detach the caboose, or it will kill us all."

Blake nodded, jumping down. But before she could sever the connection, it decoupled itself, the cart falling behind and detonating.

"It decoupled itself?"

"What?!" Oobleck glanced back at the tunnel, which collapsed from the explosion "That's not good…"

Nero lifted the next hatch.

"Umm, we have another one…"

"Another bomb?!" Blake explained, jumping back onto the roof.

"No, no no no!" Oobleck ran ahead and lifted up another hatch, exposing another bomb, which then activated "They all have bombs!"

The group jumped to the next cart as it decoupled, running and jumping onto the next to avoid the next decoupling.

"I don't get what the hell's happenin'!" Nia yelled, confused.

Another explosion triggered the tunnel's roof to collapse, several confused Grimm falling onto the track. The monsters all looked at the train and with a roar, gave chase.

"Oh dear…no…" Oobleck whispered.

As he came to his realisation, RWBY and Co all took on combat stances as the white fang neared them. Yang charged first, punching out several members by kicking out their feet and delivering a shotgun powered hit to the face. Blake rushed past, slashing a few Faunus on her way. Weiss spun her rapier's chamber and summoned a glyph, skating along the ground, freezing several member. Nero attempted to use her whip, before realising that the rushing air from the speeding train made the weapon useless. She retracted it to a third of its length and began slashing at a charging group, the blade slicing through their clothes and Nero tripping them up. Nia blocked and disarmed the terrorists, avoiding attacking them directly as her stab easily impaled one, her scimitar too strong for the poor Faunus.

 _Okay, maybe should downgrade this when I get the chance. Even a bloody scythe is causin' less bodily harm then me._ She grimaced internally as Ruby flew by, knocking over a large amount of the hoard.

As everyone looked forward, Nia summoned a ball of water and quickly shoved into the impaled grunt, the wound rapidly healing. Oobleck turned back just as she finished, Nia standing up straight as he did, still visible worried.

"He's leading Grimm to the city!"

"What?"

"It's the cars! They detach and detonate, opening up holes for Grimm to follow, then the train will breach the city!"

"T-That's insane." Blake stammered, stunned.

"We have to hurry, we need to stop this train now! You three-" he pointed at Weiss, Blake and Yang "Go below and try disarm any remaining bombs. The remaining four of use will storm the bridge and stop the train."

WBY all nodded and jumped into a hatch. As the remaining four started running, a gout of black fire made them flinch. A woman walked in front of them, duel weapons in hand.

"I can't allow that, sorry." "This train may be early, but it isn't stopping!" she announced.

Nia stepped forward, seeing her core crystal.

"You lot go, I'll stop her."

"No, we can-" "Ya can't! You lot can't beat a Blade."

"Blade? What's that?" Oobleck asked, curious.

"Somethin' you aren't meant to know about, now go!" she ordered charging Copal, the fire blade blocking the attack with her saber.

Oobleck looked at the woman and then glanced at Nero, noticing both had a gem on their chest.

"Hmm, alright."

"You think I'll let you go?" "Not likely!" she raised her staff, but Nero charge ahead too and wrapped her whip around the black metal, pulling and engaging her too.

"I'll help, please go!"

"Understood, stay safe." Ruby and Oobleck ran by, Copal's face contorting in rage.

"STOP!" she yelled, flames igniting the air.

Nero used her free hand to tear off some water and launch it at the fire, quenching it. The two jumped back, Copal releasing a pulse of fire that engulfed the area around her.

"Morag mentioned a missin' core, I think I found it." Nia smirked "Now then, let's go, fire on water!"

* * *

The three stood, across from each other. Copal smiled.

"Can I have your name?" "Please?"

"Nia." "Nero."

"Hmm, I see. My name is Copal." "The Blade that will burn you to cinder!" she added, charging forward.

Nia blocked the strike, pushing Copal back as the Blade slashed with her staff. Nia ducked under the attack and sliced Copal's leg, inflicting a deep cut on it. Nero followed up with a downward strike, Copal deflecting the bladed spike as her leg gave out from the wound. She kicked Nia away and launched herself back a meter, doing a back flip and landing on her healed leg. She frowned.

"Two on one isn't fair." "Let's even this out."

She vented out a black flame that circled her before spreading out and extending up, trapping the three on the train car. The fire grew in strength, but instead of the area brightening, the flames seemed to darken the space enclosed, the light devoured by fire.

"Miss Copal, what are you doing!?" Nero asked.

"He he he, let's see you hit…" "...what you cannot see…" she taunted as darkness fully consumed them, not even their weapons glow breaking the dark.

"Damn it, I can't see. How the hell are we supposed to fight like this?" Nia complained, staring into the dark.

"(giggle) **YOU'RE NOT.**" Copal whispered in her ear.

Nia jumped in fright before she was slashed twice and pushed back by a blast of fire, the black lifting briefly. Nero attacked the space Copal was, but her blade hit only metal, sparks arcing off. Nero felt herself get impaled by the staff and lifted into the air, laughter filling the space. She pulled her whip back and stabbed down, the blade striking Copal's saber. Copal then slammed Nero onto the roof, channeling fire through her weapon, burning Nero's insides. She let out a blood curdling scream as Nia rushed towards the two, swing in the dark. Copal parried a slash and buried the blade into Nia's shoulder, continuing to laugh.

 **"WHAT'S WRONG!?"** **"HAVING TROUBLE?!"** she questioned between laughs.

"I'm not done yet!" Nia cried as a flash of light filled the area, exposing Copal barely.

Nia broke free from her slashed Copal, pushing her back. Then another flash lit up the darkness again, Nia continuing her assault. Copal was too shocked to counter, just barely blocking the strikes. Another flash, another hit. Nero staggered to her feet and inhaled, summoning power.

"Aqua pulse!" she yelled, shooting out a wave of water from her skirt, the ring hitting the fire wall, weakening the flames, light returning slightly.

Taking aim at the two, she fired her whip's blade at Copal, the spike embedding itself in her spine. Copal howled in pain as she stumbled, Nia taking advantage of the lapse in the fight to summon more water to quickly extinguishing the fires, light returning fully. Nero noticed that Nia looked different, in an odd outfit. With another flash, Nia returned to normal, except for the large cut in her jumpsuit's shoulder, a deep gash healing slowly. Copal tore the spike out of her back and turned to the two, rage in her eyes.

"AAARRGGHHH! I'm going to kill you!" "Kill you-you-you-YOU!" she attached her weapons together, her head twitching as she stammered.

She rushed forward, fire spewing out of her free hand. Nero jumped back as Nia blocked the slash with a shield, the force bouncing her back. Nia stabbed the Blade in the stomach, her scimitar glowing.

"Water flower!" blades of water ripped free from Copal, forming a flower that near bisected her.

She pulled it out and smiled.

"Saber slash!" the back of the blade of her weapon shattered but clung together, making an odd pattern.

She slashed Copal multiple time, forcing her back. Nero ran up to her and whipped her, the rope strikes bruising her pale side's skin. She grabbed Copal arm and heaved her over her shoulder, smashing her back first onto the her whip's spike that was sitting on the roof. Copal responded by blasting them with fire, the two dodging. Copal rose to her feet, an unhinged smile on her face.

"Stop it...st-st-stop i-i-i-i-it!" "C-Control, losing control! H-Help!" "HELP-HELP!" she begged as flames began leaking out of her, her voices a mix of rage and desperate.

She grabbed her head, fire continuing to grow in size.

"Ha...HAHAHAHAHA!" "So much...power!" tears were streaming from her eyes "What's wrong with me?!" "It HUUURRRTTTTTSSSS!"

"Nero, we have to stop her!" Nia shouted above the roaring flames.

"What's happening?"

"She's losing control, she'll go and incinerate this whole train if we don't stop her. I know someone with this too, a rampage is not good thing."

"H-How?!"

"We gotta put her out!"

A flash changed Nia back to her other form, a ball of water pooling in her hand. Nero pulled all of the water from her skirt and more, forming tentacles over her arms.

"Hydrotorrent!" Nero yelled as they both fire the water at Copal, the black fire weakening further.

"Nero, get her off, now!"

Nero ran forward and wrapped her whip around her leg and began spinning, Copal being spun as well. Then she let go, her whip and Copal flying off the train. She slammed into the side of the tunnel disappeared from sight, the train continuing on.

"Well, that was that." Nia sighed, hands on hips.

Nero resummoned her whip.

"Miss Nia, is that, what you really look like?" she asked.

"Hmm, yeah, this is the real me. A flesh eater." she tapped her tainted core "A Blade with a bit of human in'm."

"Oh…" Nia revered back to her driver form "How did that happen."

"Prefer not to tell ya that, don't wanna give you ideas." she stated, brushing off her question.

"We could check on the others. I'll go this one, you that one." Nero suggested, pointing at hatches.

"Got it." Nia opened a hatch and jumped in, while Nero opened the other and looked in.

A bit away, Oobleck stood looking at the two as Ruby cut a Paladin's leg off.

"Fascinating…"

* * *

Nero looked down into the car and froze, watching a large man with a chainsaw choke slam Weiss into the floor, the metal bending from the sheer force.

"Ha hah ha, bye princess." he taunted throwing a knocked out Weiss into the air, swinging to cut her in two.

Nero jumped down into the car and blocked the slash with her shield, the teeth of the chainsaw grinding and sparking off it.

"Huh? Who're you?" he spotted her core "Another Schnee? Or a bodyguard? Don't care." he leaned into his weapon, applying more and more force, the shield cracking from the stain.

The shield shattered, Nero staggering back. He slashed again, Nero using her shield to block, but finding it shatter from the hit. He continued swinging, Nero barely blocking the heavy attacks.

 _Fighting Miss Copal wore me out, two special attack things, these shields...I-I can't…! I don't have enough-_ her shield shattered again and she nearly tripped over Weiss' body _energy…_

"Why are humans so useless." he laughed, bring his chainsaw down overhead.

Nero blocked it, the hexagonal plates cracking, no matter how much she struggled to keep it together.

 _I-I can't! Stop him! No...nononono, I promised Weiss, I'd protect her, I promised. And I'll keep it...no matter what!_ She pledged internally.

Her shield failed and the saw continued, but Nero refused to move. She raised up her hand...and stopped the momentum with her hand. There was a spray of blue and red...and a scream. The chainsaw dug through Nero's hand and arm, cutting it down the middle, a vertical slice falling off her arm, half her hand and arm.

"AAAAHHHHH! GRAAHH, NNNHHH! SH*T, SH*T! AHHH!" Nero swore through grit teeth as she fell over, the pain excruciating.

A mix of blue liquid and blood poured from the wound, staining her jacket, as well as the large cut off piece from her sleeve. It had the desired effect though, the Faunus fell to the side, not expecting the stunt, missing Weiss.

"GRRRAAA….GRRAA...ahhhh! Damn it, this hurts!" Nero clutched the area, the wound too severe to rapidly heal, even for a Blade.

"What the hell?! Are you crazy or something?" the man asked, confused beyond word.

"I...I said I'd protect her. I said nothing would hurt her. I don't care about me, I'll heal, I'll endure." Nero stood "I've quite the fortitude you know." she added, a vacant smile on her face.

The man simple grunted, uninterested. Then an idea hit Nero. She pulled out the dust crystal Weiss had given her from her jacket pocket.

 _Dust is this world ether, right?_ She smiled.

"I hope you're ready...because for hurting Weiss, I'm gonna kill you!" she threatened, instinctively squeezing the crystal.

A trail of blue began leaking out of the dust, quickly snaking its way up her arm and into her core, the shining gem growing brighter, almost blinding. Her opponent covered his eyes, the light continuing for a few seconds before lessening. Nero stood tall, her dull eyes pulsing. Water from her skirt had engulfed her ruined arm, the missing parts replaced by water. She dropped the crystal clear dust to the ground, it breaking like glass.

"Come now, let's dance, shall we?!"

* * *

The man seemed undeterred, charging at Nero. She blocked the heavy swing, her shield withstanding the blow.

"Not going to work now."

She pushed back, his boots scraping along the floor. She then began, swinging and slashing with her shorted whip, the blade cut holes in his aura. The Faunus threw himself at her, tanking the assault. Nero narrowly avoided his laboured slashes, the chainsaw damaging ground and cargo. Nero just smiled as the man grew fevered, speeding up, but Nero continued to avoid him. He looked at Weiss and moved toward her, before he stopped, a blade buried in his shoulder.

"Hey, you are fighting ME!" Nero's whipped grabbed the blade and she pulled him back, then driving the blade deeper, forcing him to the floor.

"Come now Mister, time for payback." Nero smiled ripping the chainsaw free from him.

She pierce the ground next to his arm and grinned wider, slowly moving the active chainsaw towards him. He naturally started struggling, but Nero dug her boot into his spine and the remnants of her skirt reformed to make tendrils, which restrained him.

"An eye for a eye, half an appendage for a half, you know?" she taunted as the man began to panic, the teeth approaching.

"Nero stop!" a voice cried.

Nero stopped and glanced over to Weiss, struggling to look up, fear on her face.

"What's wrong Weiss? I'm just dealing with a little problem." Nero gave cheerily, pushing the chainsaw closer.

"Nero, please stop, you're scaring me!"

"What? How, he hurt you, so I'm making sure he can't anymore. Is that so bad, he's a terrorist, no one'll care, or even know probably." she argued.

"It doesn't matter! We're better than that, if you main him, kill him, then you're as bad as him! Huntresses...help people, save people. Ruby sees them as fairytale heroes, and even if they really aren't, we can't be the monster of the story either! So please, just STOP!" she shouted, tears streaming down her face "Don't be like my father!"

The last part seemed to snap Nero out of it, the pulsing in eyes fading, the water falling off her arm, blood and blue beginning to flow. She dropped the chainsaw and kicked the white fang member's head, knocking him out. Then she collapsed. Weiss ran over.

"Nero! Y-You're arm…! H-How do I!...There's so much blood and...goo! I-I-" Nero smiled, stopping her.

"I'll be fine, just, look away." she said standing, walking over to her severed parts.

Weiss glanced away as Nero picked up the flesh and bone, placing it on the wound. The skin regenerate and reattached, Nero growling in pain. She pick up her hand piece and held it to the rest, the stiff didges wriggling off rigamortis. A pale red scar sat at the connection points, refusing to leave.

"Sorry Weiss, I'm done." Nero whispered.

Weiss turned and walked up to her, grabbing the scarred limb.

"I'll get you a new jacket later." she joked feeling the damaged sleeve.

"Ha...thanks. Well, should we go?"

"Yeah, let's go, and...thanks for saving me."

The two climbed out of the cart and onto the roof.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

Nia landed in the car just as Yang was thrown to the roof, landing unconscious. She turned to Yang's aggressor, a pink and brown haired girl, only a bit taller then her. The girl looked opened her mouth, surprised, before smiling, sheathing a blade into her parasol. She waved.

"Huh, well then, how about you have a go at me?" she asked, pointing her scimitar at her.

The girl gestured to the roof, shrugging.

"Hmm, you askin' about that Copal woman, dealt with."

The girl nodded, giving a knowing grin.

"Not much of a talker eh? Well, doesn't really matter." Nia question offhandedly.

The girl shook her head, opening her parasol.

"Let's go then!" Nia announced charging her.

The girl didn't move, just standing there. Nia slashed her, but she shattering into shards, gone. A kick sent Nia flying, rolling along the ground before landing on her feet, the girl wandering over. Nia attacked again, but missed, the mute bending out of the way, the upward kick from the back flip knocking Nia's weapon into the air. A quick flick closed the translucent cloth as the girl beat Nia in the face with the closed parasol, before pushing her away, sticking out her tongue, a sneer on her face. Nia grabbed her weapon.

"Cheeky bugger…" she moaned rubbing her cheeks.

Nia ran forward, swinging fast, but her duel haired opponent simply dodged the swipes. Nia blocked her counters, neither truly hitting each other. Nia thrust forward, but found the girl broke apart again. Then she landed on Nia's blade, balanced on one foot.

"Wha-?! Hey!" she received a kick to the eye, the heterochromic girl landing effortlessly.

"Okay, I can see why Yang ended up like that."

The girl silently giggled, mimicking Yang's punches before shaking her fists angrily, increasing the speed of them before sighing.

"Yeah, she seems like a hot'ead."

A nod showed agreement.

An alarm made the girl flinch before tapping her wrist and shrugging, bowing.

"What? No way you're leaving!" Nia's weapon began glowing before her slashed, a watery cut flying out, shattering another copy "Uhh, that's just plain annoying…"

Yang groaned as Nia looked at her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, mostly, I just feel like melting ice cream, a gooey mess." Yang's legs wobbled, unsure.

"Well come on, we got a train to stop." Nia pointed out leaving the cart, Yang following.

* * *

The group all climbed up onto the roof, running up to Ruby. A wall was fast approaching.

"There's no brake! Torchwick destroyed them!" Blake lamented.

"So we can't stop this thing?! What the hell do we do then?" Nia asked, unsure.

"Brace for impact?" Nero suggested.

"Umm, good enough I guess!" Ruby shrugged.

Weiss spun and stabbed the ground, a glyph forming beneath them, ice encasing them. Nero stepped in front and summoned her shield, Nia joining her and strengthening it. After what felt like an hour, the impact came, and team RWBY lost consciousness.

* * *

AN: Ah hah! Behold, my longest chapter!...for some reason.  
This isn't a chapter and a half mushed together, you have no proof.

This'll be the last thing I put up until after the 14th, when my tests end.

Also, that part with Nero and the lieutenant? That has been swimming around in my head for months, and that is the third version of it. The previous versions were...longer and more...graphic. Let's just say, Weiss woke up a little early.

So, yeah, that's about it, review, Pm, wonder what was going through my head at points, stuff of hat nature.  
Anyway, enjoy.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter nineteen: Beacon prelude

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

 **The previous day, Beacon**

Morag stepped out of the amphitheater with Perun having escaped a team from another kingdom that believed Morag and Perun were teachers. They would not stop asking a slew of questions about the screens she had no idea how to answer. Kora had slipped away from them, not wanting to mess up trying to help. Perun managed to pass them off onto Professor Goodwitch with a simple half truth. She sighed as Glynda glared at the two, clearly too busy to be dealing with them.

"Hmm, I'm surprised that you pass off teenagers in need." Morag wondered, smiling.

"Well...I...I don't anything about those screen, okay? They give me a headache looking at them, I'd probably make things worse attempting to help." Perun admitted with a sigh.

"Perun, I was joking. I had no idea how to work them either. You most likely need one of those scroll things to properly work them from the look of it."

The two began to walk back to the ship when Poppi walked into view, talking to a girl with bunny ears atop her head. Poppi was holding her inactive sabre while the girl was looking over it. Another girl came into view, wearing sunglasses and a beret following closely behind. Morag turned and made a beeline for the three, fearing what Poppi could say. She doubted Poppi would let anything slip, but why risk it. Poppi's version of secrets was a bit skewed, according to Brighid, especially when she leaked Tora's special 'armour' for her to Brighid.

"Ah, there you are Poppi." Morag walked in front of the two, Perun following.

"There friends are. Poppi go to ship but you not there, so Poppi came to get you. And along way, met Velvet." Poppi explained pointing at the faunus.

"Sorry if I delayed you, I just thought that your sword looked quite unique, so I wished to take a picture of it and then one question led to another and well, we wandered off." Velvet apologised with an embarrassed smirk.

"Yeah, it surprised me really. The two kept bouncing questions off each other in a constant steam while neither answered any of them." the trailing girl shrugged.

"Some secrets Poppi can't talk about./I couldn't expose my teams secret weapon." both answered at once, the two glancing at each other.

"I see, well, if Poppi has something important to tell us, then I'm sorry to say that we must take our leave." Morag stated.

"Of course, sorry for holding you up." the two students waved goodbye as they left.

"So, what's wrong?" Perun asked.

"Friend Penny have idea about how Brighid can walk around without funny staring." Poppi smiled grabbing Morag's hand "Poppi show you."

* * *

Herald placed down a soldier's uniform and armour on a chair that she was carrying in the smallish room Penny had lead them to. Penny nodded and turned to Brighid.

"So. General Ironwood and Morag said you can't leave the ship because of your limbs and hair right?" Penny asked the fire blade.

"Yes…" she replied with a hint of skepticism.

She had every right to be though, a teenager and blade she had never seen before suddenly appearing and saying she may have a solution to both their problems. Brighid turned her gaze to the outfit, frowning.

"So, I can see why they think people wouldn't think you're human, but, as long as your hair, arms and legs don't ignite this then it could work. If you undo your hair buns, you could wear this soldier uniform and armour and cover all your inhuman parts!" Penny explained.

"Okay…, first, I've never undone my hair before. Second, I'm not sure if my hair would fit under that helmet.-" "And three that suit looks so drab." Kora joked walking into the room.

"Kora? How did you find us here?" Herald asked the electric blade as she picked up the helmet.

"Well, I escaped the student help desk Morag and Perun were becoming and came back to the ship. I wanted to find our rooms, buuuuut I got lost, heard your voices, so I followed'em." she placed the helmet on, her horns catching on the inner material "Nope, not gonna work."

"So pray tell, how does this help you?" Brighid ignored Kora's struggling to remove the helmet, her horns now fully snagged on the material.

"The General always wishes for there to be at least one soldier with my master, so if you could be the soldier, she would have more freedom as you would most likely be less restrictive than the actually soldiers." KOS-MOS explained.

"Okay, mostly that, but not really the last part (hiccup)." "Especially that last part." KOS-MOS added as Penny hiccuped "KOS-MOS!"

"Are you sure Ironwood would accept that?" Herald wondered as she yanked the helmet loose, breaking the tip of one of Kora's horn, which quickly regrew.

"I mean, Brighid looks like a nice responsible adult. General Ironwood would probably trust her."

"I don't think Ironwood trusts any Blades." Herald retorted "All we've done is give him troubles and headaches."

"Brighid has yet to involve herself in any data breaches or dangerous activities. Along with her calm demeanor, there is a high probability that she would be the lone Blade he could trust."

"Her, Nia and myself haven't done anything stupid yet." Kora added.

"'Yet' implies you plan to." KOS-MOS folded her arms.

As Kora walked up to KOS-MOS with an annoyed smirk, Brighid picked up the outfit, excluding the helmet and stepped behind the screen Penny had set up. She began to attempt to put on the different parts. The rubbery undersuit was clearly a size too big, Herald most likely asked for one too big to prevent it being constricting. Her legs fit better then the body due to the slightly wider flame-like crystals of her lower legs. Her arms were a bit tight, crushing the shifting, wavy crystals of her upper arms. The armour was next, the tough non-metal substance slotted onto her upper body and the leg guards fit snugly too. The arm guards barely fit, crushing her arms more. She sighed as the uncomfortable feeling faded.

 _This was clearly made of someone with more arm space..._ she looked down at the chestpiece _and a man…_

She picked up the boots and lifted up her foot. Her heel and foot shaped the undersuit into a rough shoe shape, the boots would clearly not fit her feet. No footwear really would. She stepped out, boots in hand.

"These will not fit due to my feet already having heels. Also, most of this doesn't fit in one way or the other." she stated.

"That was the biggest one I could obtain. The requisition officer clearly did not wish to give it out, I believe he was scared of me." Herald lamented.

"Well, let's see step two." Kora announced running up to her and grabbing one of her buns.

"Wha-?! Excuse me Kora, I can do-!" Kora pulled a near invisible, thin band from her hair that was holding it together.

Her hair fell free and reached the same length as her back length, free hair, the fire from the top collapsing. The flame reignited and trailed back and forth weakly along the full length. Kora when for the second but Brighid caught her hand, her grip like a vice. Brighid then proceeded to free her second bun with her other hand, the hair copying the first. Her azural hair waved and floated slightly from the flames heat, the Blade frowning looking from left to right.

"Well this is a problem." Brighid sighed.

Kora dumped the helmet onto her head, the hair remaining free on both back and sides, fire dancing around.

"If it wasn't firey, we could pass it off as you like wearing your hair free when on casual duty...but…" Penny deflated as her plan fell apart.

"Hmm, so this is what you wished to show us?" Morag asked walking in on the spectacle.

"Lady Morag? I thought you had to go to a meeting in the schools assembly hall?" Brighid asked taking off the helmet.

"That is where we just came from, the speech at the amphitheater. Nia has left with a team to outside the Kingdom. Most teams have, or are leaving. Which means we can afford to be less secretive...to an extent." Perun explained.

"Less, slightly less careful, although I would prefer no change in behaviour just to be certain." Morag added walking over to Brighid "Hmm, you should let your hair down more often, it's a good look."

"Thank you Lady Morag, but this plan of Penny's won't work, my hair is still...well, flaming." Brighid propped her head up with her hand, leaning on the other "Not that I truly mind, but she appears to be not taking it well."

"I thought my plan was amazing…" Penny whispered.

"Unfortunately master, you idea was not 'sensational'" KOS-MOS patted her despairing driver's head.

"Well, it may work if we add a small spin to it. Could auras and semblances cause an effect like this." Morag suggested.

"Umm, I believe some semblances can be a constant effect or activate randomly. I heard General Ironwood complain about 'bad luck magnet' hunter once."

"Yes, semblances can be an uncontrollable ability. But I've never seen one that ignites your hair." Ironwood stuck his head in before fully entering the now full room.

"How to people keep finding us?!" Kora yelled.

"You were not originally here to begin with." KOS-MOS corrected.

"General, how much did you hear?" Perun wondered.

"Enough to guess this is some odd plan to hide Brighid more openly. A experimental task force whose duty is to guard Penny and petrol Vale...how does that sound? Morag, Brighid, KOS-MOS and maybe Perun if she's up to it." he suggested.

"Why the attitude change?" Kora asked suspiciously.

"Well I…(sigh) to say I've been high strung is an understatement. This has not been an easy thing to explain, well, hide from the council...they know I'm hiding something, just not what. Morag, you probably know a bit about this, I'm a General in the Atlasian army, I've control of a large proportion of the military, research, weapons...some experiments. I'm the headmaster of a school. I've a lot of power, and I've a habit of attempting to hold everything together myself, my way. I'm just trying to keep everything in check. But you're not some group of loose cannon huntresses, and so, I, want to give you some space. And if you can keep Penny from doing anything suspicious, from breaking out of her room to explore alone." KOS-MOS frowned.

Ironwood sighed again and began pacing back and forth.

"Okay, mostly alone, then that would be an extra boon. Her father would still like her to able to learn more about Vale and see the city. I'm just...being pushed and tugged a bit too far from every direction." he finished.

"I understand General. I'm actually used to following around excitable teenagers."

"And man children." Kora added.

"I see, well then, tomorrow when most of the students have left on their missions, Penny can head to Vale. And if nothing happens, we'll see about more." Ironwood left the room, Penny grinning happily.

"Yay! The only thing that could make this better is if Ruby was here!" she cried out, hugging KOS-MOS.

Morag turned to Brighid.

"I wonder if we are all going to have worn an Atlas uniform by the end of this." she joked.

* * *

Poppi wandered to the small R&D facility the soldier had pointed to her. The engineer and scientists that had her ether furnace and mode switch were supposedly there. She rounded a corner and walked to a large hanger that held thousands of robotic soldiers, spotting a familiar face to the side of the room. She walked over.

"Greetings Mr engineer!" she hailed him as she approached.

"Oh, hi there Miss...umm, Poppi right?" she nodded "Heh, right. By the way, never introduced myself. The name's Steven Bucker." he shook her hand with a smile.

"Poppi come to see how inner workings being fixed is doing."

"Really? Not even been a day yet you know?"

"Masterpon probably have started if here."

"Well, I'm no masterpong. Dr never seem'em before is poking around with your power source while I have you shifter device. He wants to try making some of that ether stuff from it for some reason. He drained out any of the liquid that was already in it." Steven lifted up a two litre container that was half full of ether "Doesn't one of you need this?"

"Perun need ether, Poppi take that." she grabbed it "Has friend not looked at mode shift at all?" she asked.

"Oh I looked at it, and got the side off it too. The casing is banged up and the inner workings are a bit bent and knocked loose. Most of it looks like it would just require a bit of reassemble and a new screen for the front. The case didn't actually really affect anything. Although there is a single part I'm not sure about." he lead her over to her mode shift.

The side was off and the wires and rare gear were all still inside. A glass tube though had shattered, a spark arcing between two points now escaping every few seconds before reappearing inside it.

"No clue what that is or how it works. And I'm terrified to touch or replace it in case I break the thing permanently."

Poppi looked at a glass tube on the table, a replacement for the damaged one.

 _If repair man scared of breaking, Poppi do it_

She grabbed the replacement tube and reached into the mode shift, crushing the remaining glass in her hand and pulling it out, pouring the shards onto the table. The energy arced into her hand but dispersed after ten seconds of sparking around her arm. She inserted the new tube and plugged in the loose wires and spun a gear. The spark grew in power as she fitted the side back on, the damaged screen lighting up with a 8-bit Nopon giving a thumbs up with its wing. She smiled.

"Poppi finished."

"Okay, I didn't mean you do it, I just needed some rubber gloves but yeah, fixed mostly I guess. It was your furnace that was really totaled though. It needs some major work. And until that's fixed, that can't go in as the reactor is too big for your chest with it in you." Steven lamented.

"Poppi know, but now friend no need to work on mode shift." Poppi shrugged.

"Yeah, guess so. How is the reactor going?"

"It not been 24 hours yet, Poppi not need to refuel yet." Poppi answered.

"But it isn't corroding anything inside you is it?"

Poppi shook her head as she picked up the container of ether. As she reached for the mode shift, Steven stopped her.

"Hey, can you leave that with me for a bit? I want to fix the screen, might as well have it fixed up the most we can." he said with a smile.

Poppi looked at him, it sounded normal, but something seemed a bit off.

"Okay, Poppi come back tomorrow." she turned and left, glancing behind her as she did.

Upon leaving, Steven sighed.

"She knows her parts well. Makes sense. But this thing is quite advanced. And if I can figure out how it works...well, things look a bit brighter for this engineer." he whispered to himself.

Poppi stood outside the hanger, listening.

 _Why people from Atlas always hide side of self..._ she wondered as she left.

* * *

Poppi walked back to the room everyone was meant to be in, but only found Perun and Herald. Poppi placed down the container.

"Poppi have delivery!" she yelled.

"Is that, ether?" Perun asked walking up to Poppi.

"This remnants of ether from furnace. It drained out by scientist. He now working on making more ether."

"Wait, an Atlas scientist is trying to...make ether?" Herald questioned, slight worry in her voice.

"He probably want to make ether so Perun can have more after this run out. Engineer Steven also keeping mode shift although fixed, want to fix screen." Poppi added.

"Hmm…" Herald crossed her normal arms, frowning "I don't like the sound of that."

"What's wrong?" Perun turned to the blade.

"This world uses dust as an energy source, ammunition, fuel, some innate powers. But from how we feel it, it is not as powerful and it is specialised. Ether is most likely alot more powerful then it. If Atlas developed ether, it could be used to power retrofitted machines and cause a shift in production and fuel use. Other kingdoms could come to wanting to use it. But it is not natural, they would need Atlas to make it. If synthetic ether was developed, it could cause a fuel rush, leading to a fuel crash as demand spirals out of control and outpaces production. If machines were made to use ether, dust would be inefficient, slow to a crawl. If someone didn't like another company or country, cut off the new fuel source, and the people cut off would crash!" she explained.

"Okay, Herald, you are jumping to a lot of conclusions there. A lot of ifs. I doubt you can make ether here. People on Alrest can't make ether. And that's also presuming that this scientist actual wants to mass make ether. Ironwood could just want him to make some for me." Perun brushed off Herald's worried rambling.

"How does Poppi's furnace make ether?"

"It just...just…" Perun froze.

"Reverse engineer ether furnaces, produce ether, drain ether. It could be made to make gallons of the stuff."

"Well then...that may have...some merit." Perun choked out with a strained voice.

"Meh, Poppi doubt that it would go that far. Perun right, that make many jumps of logic. Although engineer want mode shift for robot upgrade me think." Poppi pondered.

"Wait, that engineer wants to use your shift thing in Atlas robots?" Poppi nodded to the question "Okay, we may need to go talk to those two. The mode shift would probably be fine if it was put in those androids, but the ether production is actually making me antsy." Perun said walking out the door.

Poppi and Herald ran/flew after her, Herald's crackpot idea actually holding merit.

* * *

They quickly made there way towards the R&D section and Poppi ran straight into Ironwood, knocking both of them over.

"What the-?" Poppi jumped to her feet and leaned close to his face.

"Ironman, have to stop fuel crisis!"

"...What? What are you talking about?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Poppi proceed to explain what the three were talking about. Ironwood just sighed.

"What the hell, how did you jump the shark so quickly? Just, just calm down. I was planning on visiting there in a while. Just go to your rooms and stop imagining Atlas will destroy the world with otherworldly fuel, okay?" The three all looked at him with different levels of worry.

"Seriously, I thought you were logical Poppi and you two shouldn't feed her imagination. Just, go back to your rooms...corridor." The three all turned and left, Ironwood left feeling confused.

 _Ten minutes, it took ten minutes from when I left for them to completely jump off the deep end. How did they even reach that conclusions. I mean, I did say to try and remake Poppi's shifter so we could make more versatile combat droids, but how the hell did they come up with 'remake an ether furnace and destroy the world'?_ Ironwood stood and brushed off his suit _Might as well go now, kill this line of thought before they attempt to rile up Morag, not that she'd believe them, she's no idiot._

Ironwood briskly walked to the science center of the R&D section and walked into the tight room. A man was scribbling down notes while looking at Poppi's ether furnace.

"Ah General, how are you today." he asked glancing up.

"I'm fine Dr. Fury. I've just come to see how your investigation into the power source is going."

"Fine, fine. Drained out all that goo and dumped it in a container for the weird girl that drinks it. Now I'm trying to figure out how it makes the stuff. Because, oh boy, does that stuff pack a punch. It overheated and caused the test circuit to explode." he stated offhandedly.

"What test circuit?" Ironwood asked.

"I made a circuit to test if this stuff could be used as a power source for machines because I doubted it could and, well, it's far more powerful than dust. It also melts and corrodes plastic...and steel. Not glass, which I find, odd to say the least."

"Okay, didn't ask you to do that but sure."

"As for the generator itself, the crack can be welded from the look of it, but the damaged side exposing the insides of it? Not sure about that. It appears to have a failsafe to prevent activation if any part of its internal workings are exposed to air. Which, not sure how that works." Dr. Fury tapped the furnace "This little thing appears to pack a punch. If we could make this ether stuff, oh boy, it would power a lot for less."

"Yeah, we are not making a parallel worlds energy source to power Remnant."

"Hmm? Why not, we're already stealing robo girls shift thing-"

"We aren't stealing it." Ironwood cut him off "We're...we are, taking...we're stealing, okay, we are technically stealing the tech, but that's just allowing us to make more versatile combat and work machines. We shouldn't take ether, that may cause, a few problems. Just a few."

"Ironwood, calm down. I'm not going to try and make more of this thing, I'm not sure how we are going to fix it even. The metal, it has the make up of iron, the structure of copper and the properties of tungsten. By the laws of chemistry and I think physics, that metal should not exist." Fury explained.

"Hmm, well, that's a problem." Ironwood mused.

"Yeah, so tell mech, robo, and ether...drinker, I don't know there names! JUst tell them it's fine."

"How did you know it was them?"

"Because I could hear them yelling from across the ship." Fury smirked.

"Got it. Well, keep it up." Ironwood stepped out of the room.

"Idiots...when I fix this thing and get it working, oh the council will want this. Dr. Jordan Fury will show them Remnant's new power source. And Atlas will thrive and finally break free from those constricting vows and countries. We will dominant, as we should." he muttered, no one to hear him.

* * *

 **The next morning**

Penny woke up early the next day, the android practically vibrating with excitement. KOS-MOS got out of her bunk and looked at her driver, the ghost of a smirk appearing for a brief moment.

"Master, I would advise not tiring yourself before we have even left." she warned.

"Heh, sorry, but the General is actually letting me go out freely again like the time I met Ruby and her friends. I'm excited. We can go shopping and browsing and everything else friends do when they go out on the town!"

"I do not believe you know what that saying means." KOS-MOS sighed.

Her master was getting quite excitable. All though the joy she was feeling was a relief to KOS-MOS. She believed that Penny's captivity was starting to affect her mental state. Although this would lessen it hopefully.

"It is...8am, do you think Morag and Brighid would like to get breakfast first or get it in Vale?" Penny asked.

Before KOS-MOS could respond, a siren started to blare, making her jump. She ran out of her room as soldiers ran by. She stopped one as Morag and co came out of their rooms too.

"Hey, what's happening?!" Penny asked, concerned.

"There has been a breach in Vale, Grimm are pouring in from an underground tunnel! All troops and able bodied personal have been called to mobilise!" the soldier explained, continuing on.

"Well Penny, looks like that trip to Vale may be a bit different then you planned." Morag stated grimly, sprinting off, the blades following.

Penny clenched her fist, running after them, KOS-MOS tailing her.

* * *

AN: *Crawls up to computer* Help me...

Okay, so I wanted to have this ready and up on the Christmas day, by the way, happy that day and stuff, but I'm currently suffering a bit.  
My insomnia is acting up, quite badly. I usually stay awake and write a bit before getting a bit tired and getting some sleep and feeling...decent. But the last few days I've felt horrible, can't sleep, very tired. Just like s**t really, the fuel part was written in this state. I had a better version reasoned out, but I forgot it and can't remember it at all. Sorry about that. I'm going to go lay down and listen to Vocaloid and covers of Vocaloid and try and sleep. Tell me if there's a problem. Bye.

Anyway, enjoy.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter twenty: Born of pain

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

The world was spinning. The six girls lay in the rubble from the destroyed ground, struggling to see straight. Nia was the first to stand, before wincing as a pain shot through her foot. It had been impaled by some stone, pinning it to the ground. She pulled it loose as the others began to stur, Nero standing after a second. They looked around as RWBY recovered. Several people stood by the sides of the street, shocked and confused. Before any could react, the ground rumbled, before a snake-like Grimm burst free from the partially covered hole, leaving it free of the other Grimm to pour it, the beasts releasing howls and shrieks that some could equate to possible joy as the monsters charged the civilians. Nia looked on in horror.

"S**T! Get up now, we have to fight!" She cried at the five as she rushed the Grimm.

The shout seemed to spark a fire in RWBY, as they snapped to attention and jumped to the defense of the people. Nero staying by the hole to attack and injury the Grimm as they came through. They were ignoring the girls, choosing to go after the non-combatants. Nia rushed two Beowolfs, stabbing one in the back, before pulling the blade up, slicing the Grimm in two, before the other attacked, she spun and cut the things leg off, before ramming the scimitar into its mouth, the beast dying. She turned to the group of civilians.

"Don't just stand, get goin', now!" she ordered, the scared people running.

Ruby ran around the square they were in, attacking any escaping Grimm with quick cuts and slashes, turning to fire on a flock of small Nevermores. Weiss dodged Creeps that jumped at her and stabbed one in the head before hopping back and spinning, a blue glyph beneath her. She pierced the ground, ice forming around her, skewering a few more Creeps, while also sealing the hole. It wouldn't last long, as banging and growls began to echo from below the ice cap. Yang punched an Ursa in the stomach before jumping up and clocking it in the face, the large Grimm falling over. Blake desperately rushed around, killing Grimm and injuring others. But there were too many, and the ice began to crack, signaling more were below. People were screaming, Grimm were howling, it was too much.

* * *

 **Atlas airship**

Morag ran onto the bridge of the airship, the place in chaos.

"General!"

Ironwood turned to her, teeth grit.

"Morag, there should be an airbus in the hanger, get on it with everyone and get into Vale! Grimm are slaughtering people! I don't care about Blade secrecy or discretion, just keep Poppi a secret! Penny, get ready too." he ordered.

"Me too General?" Penny asked.

"Yes, we need everyone, the Atlasian Knights aren't ready to deploy yet. Just get in there and protect as many people as possible." he finished.

"This must be really bad if he doesn't care about Brighid." Kora whispered.

"Of course General, everyone, hurry!" Morag directed the group to leave, everyone running out.

And they did just that, sprinting towards the hanger of the large airship. Brighid split off with Penny and KOS-MOS as they rushed past their rooms, Penny needing something and Brighid wishing to put on the soldier outfit to maintain 'some' secrecy. The group quickly found themselves in the hanger with a large ship readying itself to move. Morag ran into the ship and up to the pilot.

"Hey, you the people the General wants in to fight the Grimm?" he asked.

"Yes, give us one minute to have everyone here. Then take off."

"Got it."

Morag ran back to the group as Brighid, Penny and KOS-MOS arrived. Everyone looked a variety levels of stressed. The constant siren wasn't helping. Some of them had seen the Grimm before. And they were easily dealt with. But now, these monsters were in a heavily populated city, not a military base. People weren't ready for this breach, people are dying. This scene was a catastrophe. But if they were to help, they needed to be calm, and focused.

Morag inhaled and faced the group of Blades and driver.

"Everyone! This is not some practice scenario, not an attack on a fortified base, not even an attack on an area with trained, armed fighters. In Vale, these creatures of Grimm are killing people. Most of us are not from here, we have no obligation at help or fix this. But if Uraya was besieged by monsters, I believe Mor Ardian would put aside their dislike or distrust to help them survive the tragedy. We are guests here, we can help save as many people as possible. We cannot save everyone, but we can save as many as possible. Don't let fear or worry seize your heart. We will help these people! Now, everyone onto the ship, it's ready!" Morag ordered with a heavy sideways arm swing, a fire burning in her eyes.

The group nodded, a similar look appearing on them. As they all boarded, the ship's engines flared up, fully ready to go.

"Everyone hold on and get ready to jump out the back as we get into this. No time to land,sorry." the pilot shouted as the back door closed and the ship lurched forward "Liked the speech." he added with a nod.

* * *

Within five minutes the trip started to become bumpy.

"Gah, did these Nevermores come through the breach? They're massive." the pilot complained as he avoided a hail of feathers.

"Airborne Grimm? Herald, why not go blast them?" Kora suggested.

"Hmm, I shall get rid of them. Open the hatch!" Herald yelled, summoning her ether cannon.

"Got it, be careful." the back opened to rushing wind.

Before she moved, a smaller Nevermore suddenly flew into the opening, blocking it completely, cawing at the group.

"What the-!?" the man was silenced though by KOS-MOS changing her arm into a blade and jammed it into the things skull.

She threw the body out and looked out upon the speeding city. Grimm jumped across roofs and through streets, chasing people.

"Master, people require assistance."

"Yeah, Morag, we'll get out here, see you." Penny saluted jumping out the back, KOS-MOS simply walking out the back, falling after her.

Herald jetted out as well, before turning and firing at the Grimm in the air. After a few more blocks passed, Kora nodded.

"Some people are trapped on a roof and the things are nearly at them, I got'em." Kora leaped out the back, landing on an Ursa's back and beginning to pummel it.

Poppi sighed.

"Due to limited power and need for refueling, Poppi go after random monsters not near people." Poppi's jets ripped the back off her outfit as she flew away, Brighid shaking her head.

"I wish Poppi won't do things like that. She tore a hole in her outfit."

"Well, as long as it remains mostly intact, it don't matter." Perun shrugged.

"Hey, the breach is coming up, you staying or getting off there?" the pilot asked.

"The main breach would be a good place to stem the tide of Grimm, bring us to it!"

"You got it!"

* * *

Nero jumped away from the ice cap as it exploded, shards of ice raining down. A massive scorpion Grimm dragged itself out of the hole as a hoard of smaller Grimm escaped behind it. Nero backed away as the malice driven monsters turned towards her and the faltering team RWBY. Nia turned to the new hoard, the other Grimm still fleeing into the rest of Vale. There were too many for them.

"Look out!" someone yelled.

Nero looked up as a dark skinned woman with an icy lance fell from the sky and landed directly on the deathstalker, her lance piercing the thing's head guarding bone. She pulled it free from the hole as it attempted to stab her with its stringer. She landed beside Nero and staggered, clutching her chest. Nero caught a glimpse of a soft blue glow. Another woman landed on the stinger, a single blue sword in her hand, long flaming hair escaping from her helmet. Next Morag landed on a beowolf, an identical sword in her hand. She sliced the Grimm's head off with a jump, landing front of the deathstalker. The flaming woman cut through the stinger's bone with a single slash and threw the sword into the hole in it's head armour. The Grimm wailed in pain as fire leaked from the sword. Morag grabbing it, the armoured woman holding out a hand, affinity connecting them.

"Nero, deal with the spreading hoard, we shall handle these ones!" she ordered.

Nero nodded as the six spread out to halt the tide of running monsters. The scorpion was clearly enraged, and it charged Morag, the Inquisitor dodging under a pincer and parried another. She slashed the bone covered claw, Brighid's blades cutting into it. She ducked under another and stabbed an eye, rolling away from a side strike. She passed a sword back to Brighid and jumped under the Grimm, Brighid following. They cut through a leg each, causing the beast to stumble. Perun, who had been cutting down stray beowolves, faced the downed Grimm and released a flurry of stabbed to the skull, shattering the damaged bone. Forming an icicle, she drove it into the thing's head, an unnatural screech echoing from it. After a few seconds, the Grimm fell, mist coming from the corpse. A pain shot through her core as her megalance cracked. She stepped back as the pain worsened, before swallowing hard to stifle the pain. This was no time for weakness!

"Perun move!" Brighid yelled as an Ursa loomed over her.

She glanced up at the bear creature was about to swing a claw at her, but the beast flinched as something hit it from behind, the Grimm falling forward. A boy with a fox tail smiled as he tore metal claws from the Grimm's back, before aiming and firing the middle nail of the claw at another Grimm, a chain attaching the two pulling him to it. He landed next to Nia and Nero as he tore the Grimm's head off.

"Hi!" he smiled at the two.

"Mr Airus?! What are you doing here?" Nero gasped.

"Ehh, Vale's kind of in a bit of trouble, so any team still here has come to kill some Grimm. My team was with another in a plane but a Nevermore shot us down and a scary ginger girl with a hammer started to club some nearby Grimm so her team and two members of my team are killing any running Grimm while me and one my team are here to help. Oh, there she is." Dante pointed to a sulking black haired girl with green highlighted kicking a beowolf in the chest before hooking her bladed legs around the poor Grimm's head and decapitating it.  
She looked over at the three staring at her before scoffing with with a frown, attacking another Grimm.

"She's a charmin' one…" Nia whispered.

A creep jumped at them as they talked, but a spray of pellets blew a chunk out of it and threw it back.

"Children, I would advise keeping chatting to minimum on the battlefield." Professor Port sauntered into view, blunderbuss in hand, taking aim and blowing another Grimm away.

With the influx of fighters, the Grimm hoard began to thin rapidly, with others in the city killing off as many as possible. A large Nevermore flew into view before a beam of electric energy ripped a wing off the creature, Herald flying towards it and grabbing the other wing to fling it to the ground, the massive body crushing more Grimm. A paladin clambered out of the hole, Grimm attempting to tear off plating. The hatch opened as Oobleck popped his head out with a smile, blasting the clinging Grimm away, Zwei jumping out and ran over to Ruby, headbutting a small Ursa as he ran. The damaged mech cleared the gap as a final reinforcement stomped into view. Glynda looked very...displeased. She swatted away Grimm that approached her as she lifted the broken concrete that was once the ground and sealed the hole, the Grimm unable to move the seal as Glynda forced it to stay together. As she released control over the rock, something hit it with enough force to make it jump. She forced the pieces back into place as something hit again, and again. The cap began to glow red as heat radiated from the cracks, before the hole was blasted open again by a blast of black fire, molten rock raining down around the hole. Morag, Brighid and Perun backed away from the liquid rock as a woman jumped out of the breach, literally fuming with anger. Copal vented flames that burned several Grimm that were near her.

"Where the hell are the two that threw me off the train!?" "I was run over by it and mauled by a bunch of monsters!" she shouted cutting down another Grimm as it charged her.

"Who are you!" Morag asked pointing her weapon at Copal.

"My name is Copal." "And I don't have time for you!" she yelled back as attempted to push Morag back with a powerful sweep of her staff.

Morag blocked the strike, frowning. The Core in her chest made Morag grimace.

"So, you are what became of the missing Core Crystal."

"Hmm?" she noticed Brighid and Perun "So, there are more Blades around." "Roman being clueless was making me think that there may only be two those two I fought." she smiled "This makes it interesting." she laughed in unison.

Glynda had had enough. She ripped pieces of rubble from damaged buildings and clogged the breach with debris before hurling globs of molten rock at the Blade. Copal slashed the gooey rock in two and vented out black fire around her, the flames quickly spreading out and consuming the surrounding area. The teenagers, teachers and Drivers all had to run to the corners of the square to avoid the attack, the burning heat near unbearable.

Copal smirked as she rained more fire down on the surrounding forces, forcing the humans and faunus back away from the black fire as they attempted to approach. The Blade readied to charge in, satisfied by the fire pushing everyone back, but a blur rushed past the flames, a trail of rose petals following it. Ruby appeared in front of Copal and slashed the Blade before hooking her scythe's blade around her stomach, using it to fling Copal into a building. Spinning the weapon and planting the blade into the ground, she unloaded several bullets into her, the Blade unable to escape the wall as the impacts of the bullets forced her back in. The others looked on in slight surprise as Morag, WBY and Glynda approached.

"Stop it!" "Stop that now!" she yelled between grunts of pain from each shot.

An inferno erupted from Copal after a few more bullets, incinerating the next barrage of ammunition, giving Copal a chance to recover. She pulled herself free and launched herself at Ruby with a blast of fire, the trainee huntress stepping back as she reached her. Copal grabbed Ruby's face around the eyes and slammed her to the ground. Yang was the first to react, running towards the two. But as she approached, Copal smiled.

"One burn on the arm not enough girl?" "How about somewhere important?" she asked as she vented fire straight into Ruby's eyes, the poor girl screaming in agony.

"LET GO OF HER!" Yang screeched as she delivered a shotgun assisted punch directly into Copal's jaw, the fury filled punch shattering the Blade's jaw and teeth, sending her flying.

Yang turned to her sister, who was rolling around on the ground, clawing at her burned skin and eyes, howling in pain.

"Ruby! Ruby I'm here!" she yelled crouching down.

Copal rose from ground, rubbing her warped face, a frown and a misshapen smile plastered on her damaged head. She held up a hand formed a ball of flames, throwing it at the two.

"Yang move!" Blake shouted.

Yang looked behind her and grabbed Ruby, shielding her from the blast. The blast flung them back, into an unsuspecting Nia, who had just finished the last Grimm that was near her. The two knocked her over, the three skidding across the stone of the square. A poach on Nia's belt snagged on a piece of rubble and ripped open, spilling a gem, glowing pen and random coins onto the cracked ground.

* * *

Ruby couldn't see, her world was black. Her eyes burned constantly, it was unbearable. She could hear fighting, but she knew she had been knocked away from it.

 _Yang, i-is she near me? Where's Crescent Rose? I can't see, my eyes, they hurt!_ She thought as she turned onto her stomach and forced herself to crawl.

She didn't know where anything was, she grasped and clawed the area around her, despite to find Yang, her weapon, anything. She felt around, and her hand brushed against something warm. She reached out to grab it, thinking it was her sister, but it was some small rock that fit in her hand. She attempted to drop it to continue feeling her way, but found the rubble piece stuck to hand. She shook it and found it held on tight.

"Ruby, let go of that!" she heard Nia yell.

"What? What am I…" but she was cut off by the rock leaving her hand, flying into her, leaving after a second.

She heard something land beside her and sensed someone standing beside her.

"Hello there, a pleasure to...huh?! Hey, are you okay?!" an unknown voice asked.

"Wha…? Who are you?" Ruby asked, confused.

"I'll explain later." the person picked up Ruby as Nia yelled something.

"Don't worry, just getting her to safety."

Ruby then experienced a bout of vertigo as her holder jumped into the air, landing after a few seconds, placing her down.

"May I ask who did this to you?"

"There's a woman down there, half burnt with black and brown hair." Ruby breathed as she held back her nausea.

"Got it, I see her. Give me a bit my Driver, I've some business to attend to." the voice said, jumping away.

"Wait...DRIVER!" Ruby yelled after a second, recognising that word as what Nero called Weiss.

* * *

A yell and an impact made the most of the group, including Copal turn to the sound. A person in a red cloak had landed near Nia and Yang, standing up from their fall. Their upper face was shrouded in shadows, hiding most features. The cloak covered their entire body, only blacked crimson greaves visible on the bottom half of their legs. Their cloak appeared to harden, the fabric going rigid. It then split into six pieces, peeling back to expose the person underneath. A short sleeved, dark grey shirt sat on their upper body, blacked crimson gauntlets covered the rest of their arms, ending in clawed hands. They wore deep red knee length shorts that cover part of the greeves on their lower half. A flat, shining blue rose shaped gem was inlay in the skin below their neck. The former fabric was attached to their back, curving around their body like six rigid arms. Their hood split in two, the shadow fading from their face, the fabric forming two shorter rigid claw arms attached to their neck. Back length, dark red hair fell free as the their semi-feminine face frowned, hate burning in steel coloured eyes.

"My name is Laevateinn!" he pulled out a gem from their embedded one, the gem forming a curved metal arch "You, now apparent Blade, that injured my rose!" a string of glowing black energy formed on the arch, making a bow "I will strike you down!" they pulled back, an arrow of red energy forming already nocked.

With a smile, they released it, the arrow creating a small shockwave as it left the bow.

Nia watched with concern on her face.

 _Morag and Ironface are gonna kill me…_

* * *

AN: The wounding blade/wand, Laevateinn.

I've managed to get a bit of sleep, felt better, then suddenly was consumed by horrible headaches, which slowed some stuff down. They're fixed now. So, yeah 2019...coooool.

Anyway, so yeah, Breach is in two parts, the next part will end after everything is fought and sorted, so it may be a bit long. Not that people would probably mind, I like long chapters of stuff I read.  
And now, to talk about what I did to Ruby up there. I had been planing to do that since before we learned what happened to little old silver eyed woman that is kind of just, hanging around in volume six. The moment I saw that part, I immediately 'well dammit, that's kind of what I wanted to do.' Injury a silver-eyed warrior's eyes. But we can all that solace in one thing...at least she got a Blade out of it. Who doesn't want that?

Pm, review, hope my brain doesn't explode.  
Anyway, enjoy.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter twenty-one: Hardware failure

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

Penny landed on a Creep, the force snapping its neck. Her blades shot out of her back, the wires retracting as they stabbed a wall, pulling her out the way of a Beowolf. With a smile, three more swords emerged from her back. With a light tug, she grabbed the wires and began effortlessly controlling the swords, cutting through several Grimm. She glances behind her and throws one back, the blade stabbing an Ursa. Grabbing the wire dual handed, Penny flung the beast with easy over her shoulder, the Grimm barreling through several Beowolves and a small Deathstalker. KOS-MOS landed a few feet away, missing a Grimm by inches. She stomped its foot, her heel going straight through. As it howled, she cut the things head off with her arm blade. It changed back to a hand as she summoned her ether cannon, firing a barrage of shots, each shot killing another monster. The two cut through the hoard, the Grimm falling to mist quickly. The two looked at the group of people.

"Please evacuate to the nearest safe house if available, and if not, barricaded a secluded building with nearby furniture." KOS-MOS advised.

The group nodded and ran. Penny smiled.

"Come on KOS-MOS, there are probably more Grimm nearby!"

"Understood Master."

* * *

Herald sped through the sky, dodging a hail of sharp feathers. Aiming, she fired three shots with her cannon, the first clipping a wing, causing the Grimm to flinch and slow, the second hit an eye and the third its forehead. A blade extended from her cannon. She charged the Nevermore and sliced a wing off and ran through its side, the monster releasing an cry as it fell. She looked down at the ground. Two people were facing each other, something flying at the other. A feather grazed her back. She turned to a flock of dog sized Nevermores.

"Hmm, there are a lot of you." her ether cannon's barrel widened, electric power flowing out of it "Goodbye."

A beam of electric charge tore through the flock, the Grim fleeing from it. Herald gave chase, reaching them before they even left the plaza airspace.

"Sorry, no running." she grabbed a Grimm and crushed it in her mech hand.

* * *

Copal reacted instantly, slicing the arrow in two, the twin pieces flying to the sides. The force from Laevateinn's shot made her step back from the sheer force, but she quickly righted herself, as Laevateinn pulled back a second, firing, and then a third and fourth. Copal stopped each one, slowly stepping back from each one. Laevateinn frowned.

"Huh...fine then, maybe being a bit more direct will be better." they commented.

The bowstring faded as the curved, metal bow straighten, a blue crystal forming at the top in a crescent. A blade of dark energy, the same as the string from before, shot out the crystal. The bow had changed to a scythe. A quick spin in their fingers ended with the weapon on Laevateinn's shoulder.

"Now then, float like skeeter, bite like a vang. Your weapon won't hit what won't sit still." and with that, they vanished.

In less then a second, Laevateinn reappeared, crouching in front of Copal, smiling. Three lightning quick cuts later, he vanished as Copal attempted to look at the Blade. Suddenly behind her, three more attacks, vanished. Laevateinn continued the tactic, the number of slashes decreasing until it was a constant hurricane of single cuts and disappearing. The Blade looked as though they were teleporting.

"S-Stop it!" "Stay still girl-ugh?!" Laevateinn slashed Copal's throat, silencing her.

"By the way, I'm a boy." he smirked hooking the scythe around her stomach and using it to fling the fire Blade into the air.

He crouched down and leapt into the air. Catching Copal in a second, he spun, using the head of the scythe to bludgeon her, rocketing her to the ground. The crystal head shattered, the curve returning as Laevateinn's bow returned, firing an arrow after the Blade. She struck the ground, bouncing off the stone before the arrow pierced her stomach, the force pushing back to the ground. Laevateinn smiled and did a few front flips, the weapon changing form again. He fell from the air and impaled Copal with the blade, swinging around on the handle, ripping the weapon out before landing on the ground...a horribly crack sounding as his leg bones shattered. He fell to the floor, eyes twitching.

"Ow! Owowowow! Too much, used speed too much!" he quietly cried through grit teeth.

The onlookers all had various expressions. Nia,Weiss and Nero looked worried, Morag and Brighid looked surprised, with a hint on annoyance. Blake and Perun felt a bit sick from the crunch. Yang was out of it. Port and Oobleck...missed it due to chasing some Grimm. Glynda was furious and Dante...Nero had hastily covered his eyes to make sure he didn't see any Blade stuff. He had missed the awakening too. His partner had run off to kill more Grimm. It wasn't as bad as it could have been...barely.

Laevateinn's legs healed after a few seconds, the Blade hopping to his feet. Nero released Dante, the faunus turning to the girl, confused. Nero only shrugged, a nervous grin on her face. Herald descended down to Morag.

"The Atlasian army has arrived, robotic soldiers are pouring out of the ships to kill the Grimm. I have disposed of many airborne Grimm." Herald reported.

Morag nodded as Penny rushed into the plaza, panting from her sprint as KOS-MOS stopped beside her. Her Scroll beeped and she handed it to KOS-MOS.

"...Yes General? Master is currently hyperventilation." she stated answering the call.

"What is happening down there?"

KOS-MOS scanned the area, noting everything.

"The breach in the plaza has been sealed by debris, the Grimm have mostly terminated, two unknown Blades appear to have been fighting, one bearing a possible connection Ruby Rose due to similar weapon type and slight resemblance, although this may be false due to an error on part and lacking information. The other Blade appears to be hostile as she is currently regenerating, rising to her feet and is shouting an impressive number of profanities." KOS-MOS relayed to the General.

"What?!...Is Morag there?"

"Yes, I will bring you to her. Master, is that acceptable?" KOS-MOS asked.

Penny stood up, taking a deep breath.

"Yeah, that's fine."

KOS-MOS ran over to Morag, holding the Scroll.

"The General wishing to speak to you."

Morag took the technology and held it to her ear.

"Hello? General?"

"Morag, please tell me there aren't two new Blades fighting and one is Ruby's." he asked.

"If it's any consolation we don't know who the Blade called Copal belongs to." Perun yelled into the Scroll, having heard the question.

"What? Why would that help…? No, doesn't matter, this Copal, how hostile is she?"

Morag glanced at the fire Blade, now reengaging Laevateinn. Attempting to strike and burn the bow/scythe wielder, but unable to hit him.

"Just stay still!" "Or at least stop using that stupid speed!" Copal yelled.

"I'm using it less to stop leg breaking, isn't that enough?"

"NO!"

"Very hostile, I doubt she will stop. And you most likely leak the ability to properly arrest and restrain a Blade." Morag said.

"His idea of imprisoning me was handcuffing me and putting me in a small, dark room. I doubt he could contain a Blade who appears to be able to unleash an inferno." Herald added.

"Indeed, Atlas most certainly lacks ether nets, and as such could not contain a Blade."

"...Thanks for the vote of confidence." Ironwood deadpanned through the Scroll...somehow.

"I have a suggestion." KOS-MOS suddenly said as Penny ran over.

"What is it KOS-MOS?" she asked.

"If the Blade cannot be contained and refuses to stop, we destroy her core."

"But...won't that kill her?" Penny turned to her Blade.

"Yes, permanently."

"Do it." Ironwood ordered.

"What?"

"Blades are near immortal beings that wield powers we can't hope contain...without proper planning and time and investment, planning we didn't do, and time we don't have. If this Blade is dangerous and most likely won't stop, we have to force her to stop."

"Understood General, Master, permission to destroy the rogue Blade."

"I-I...we can't just restrain her, can we?...Okay…"

KOS-MOS nodded and turned to Herald.

"I require your assistance." KOS-MOS hopped onto Herald's mech carriage and whispered something, the other Blade nodding.

And with that, the two sped at Copal.

* * *

Laevateinn dodged two slashes and blocked a fireball with his shield, pushed back by the blast. Before he moved, Herald charged by and delivered a strong punch to the gut, knocking Copal into the air. She reached out and grabbed her leg, jetting into the air.

Laevateinn looked on in confusion.

"Hey, I was in the middle of something!" he yelled after.

"Let go of me!" "What are you doing?" Copal questioned as Herald threw her forward, higher into the sky.

KOS-MOS jumped on her hand.

"Launch me."

Herald pulled back and threw KOS-MOS after her.

 _At this altitude, chance of accidental damage to city structures is minimal. Beginning process._ KOS-MOS thought righting herself in the air.

"Are you trying to throw me to space?!" "Are you stupid?!" Copal mocked as she slowed, ready to fall back to Remnant.

"No. You cannot be contained. You will not cease conflict or relent. You mean to bring harm to Vale, my Master, her friends. You will be stopped." her visor flicked down "Releasing safety lock…"

Her two metal clips on her hips unlocked themselves as two rods shot out from them, another two shooting out her shoulders, energy crackling around them. The blue energy arced to her visor as she crossed her arms. A gauge on her visor rapidly filled up to 75% before a warning flashed up, warning of her current inability to handle higher energy levels. She looked at a box, a message reading 'override limiter?' popping up. She looked at yes, the box disappearing and the bar filling to 100%, sparks growing larger. She formed an X in the sky. Another warning popped into view.

 **' _WARNING: PHASE SWITCH ORDINANCE MAY HARM CORE SYSTEMS DUE TO UNCONTROLLED FEEDBACK, CONTINUE?'_. **KOS-MOS looked at the yes option.

"Blade, by order of General James Ironwood and my Master, prepare to be eliminated. Phase switch ordinance, activate."

"W-What…?"

She suddenly spread her arms and fired a stream of fast beams of light, Copal barely raising a shield in time. It didn't help much, as the beams cut through it and phased right through the Blade, leaving burns and holes. She covered her core with her hand, weapon and a small, dense shield.

"Honing in on target, focusing…" the beams grew closer and soon became a single beam of pure energy, the strength, pushing Copal away.

"S-Stop!" "Please, it hurts!" Stop, stopstopstopstop!" KOS-MOS heard the Blade plea as the beam consumed her, launching her higher and farther away.

She couldn't see, but KOS-MOS doubted little would remain of the Blade after the attack, her core most likely critically damaged, if not shattered.

The remaining power flowed around her body, as KOS-MOS gasped, a shock making her shake as a flood of flashing warnings filled her vision.

 ** _'ERROR! POWER CONDUCTORS OFFLINE, PLEASE EARTH MAIN BODY TO DISPENSE EXCESS CHARGE. WARNING, SYSTEM OVERLOAD IMMINENT, PLEASE VENT EXCESS ETHER. WARNING, VENTILATION SYSTEM FAILED, WARNING, MULTIPLE SYSTEM FAILURE IMMINENT! ERROR, ERROR, ERROR-!'_**

Her visor exploded, shrapnel flying into her face as the warning siren in her ears grew deafening.

"Mas...ter...system damage...critical...I am...sor...ry…" the world faded away as she fell, smoke pouring from her visor and body.

Penny looked on in horror.

"KOS-MOS!"

Herald flew up to her and grabbed her, flinching from the sudden surge of power arcing into her. KOS-MOS convulsed in her arms, limbs twitching, a vacant look in her exposed eye from a hole in her visor. Her core flashed bright and dim.

"Not good…"

* * *

As KOS-MOS fell from the sky, Nia finally stood, shaking her head.

 _Uhh, my head feels like I got decked by a gogol._ she rubbing her hair _Ah yeah, that Ruby kid!_

She ran over to Laevateinn, who was watching the spectacle. He turned to Nia.

"Hello, quite an impressive display of power, isn't it?" Laevateinn smiled at the sky "Although she overdid it a bit, like my speed. She'll have to recover her ener-" "Hey, can you bring me up to Ruby?" Nia interrupted him.

"Ruby?"

"Your Driver?"

"Oh, the rose, why? She's safe up there." the Blade questioned.

"Because she got one hell of a burn to the eyes and if she's ever gonna see again, I have to get up there!" Nia explained.

Laevateinn looked at the girl for a second before frowning.

"Got it." he grabbed her and held her in a bridal carry-like stance before leaping into the air, landing on a nearby roof, and then jumped to another, landing near Ruby. She had been attempting to stand gripping the side of the near flat roof, eyes sealed shut by a painful looking burn. Nia jumped out of Blade's arms and walked over.

"Ruby, be careful."

"N-Nia? Where are you? Where am I?!"

"That doesn't really matter at the moment, now lay down." she ordered and turned to Laevateinn "Not a word to anyone about wat I'm about to do."

"Okay…?"

A flash of light enveloped Nia as she changed to her Blade form.

"Wait, you're-?!" "Shut it!" she hissed at him.

She pooled water in her hand and crouched down.

"This is gonna hurt, but that's just it workin' got it?" she asked, Ruby only gave a slight nod "Right."

She placed the water on her burn and eyes, pushing in down, covering it completely. Ruby let out a short yelp and started wiggling in pain and discomfort. An aura of of faint light and drops of water floated around the two.

The pain was progressively worsening, something cool flowing and what felt like stabbing into her face and eyes. Before Nia had started, the burning pain had actually disappeared, which was more worrying to Ruby because that meant nerve damage. But the pain was growing and flaring, meaning Nia was doing something positive.

"Damn it, this thing is persisted. It's like there's fire in the cells killin'em as they heal." Ruby heard Nia mutter.

Ruby felt a hand gently grab an eyelid and force it open, making her jump from pain. She saw only a red blur from the eye as liquid ran over it.

"I-I'm...I'm blind…" she whispered, realising what she saw meant.

"Hey, don't be so pessimistic. Give me a minute."

A pain shot through her eye as Nia continued to do whatever it was she was doing.

"Come on lens and junk, don't crap out on me…"

The red in her vision started to fade to a white before a black, blurry figure appeared. Her vision continued to improve until the white and black started to gain colour, the figure gaining tall ears on their head and greyish hair.

"N-Nia?" Ruby guessed, her vision still too poor to fully make out the person.

"Yep, that's enough for that eye now, got to make the other one as good before improvin' them." Nia stated closing the eye and opening the other one.

She repeated the process on the other eye, vision returning to it, to an extent.

"Okay Ruby open both eyes."

After a bit of struggling, Ruby forced them open, the burnt muscle resisting.

"Hmm, still got to work on the muscle it looks like."

Nia ran the water over her face again, the stinging returning, before cooling the pain. Ruby's vision slowly gained more focus until she was met with a blurry but recognisable Nia, although a bit different looking. A blue and red light shone on her chest.

"Umm, Nia, do you, look different?"

"Hmm? Crap, your vision that good already?" she joked.

"Well, you're blurry, but I know that it's you."

"Hmm, good enough I guess, can you blink?" Ruby blinked, only a slight resistance. "Yeah, not sure how much more I can fix, whatever the hell that fire was, it's impeding natural healing, had to force the cells and stuff to fix themselves." Nia explained.

"H-How did you do that?"

Nia froze, glancing from side to side before a flash changed her back to her driver form.

"Wait, you just changed! You didn't have the orange on just there. And there was a blue and red light…" Nia shushed her.

"No tellin' Ruby, I'd been in alotta trouble if Morag or Ironface knew you saw too much. Let's just say, it's my semble-thingy that you lot have and a little first aid." Nia smiled."

"Sure, got it."

"Well my rose, how are you?" Laevateinn asked.

"Huh, that voice. Are you that person that said I was your driver?!"

"Yeah Ruby, that there blur in your vision is Laevateinn, your, umm, Blade. Heh…"

"...Oh…"

"Ruby?!" Yang yelled from the ground.

Ruby turned and ran over to the edge, looking down at the blurry ground.

"Yang, you there? How far up am I?"

"Umm, three stories."

"Allow me." Laevateinn picked up Ruby and jumped off the building, landing in front of the growing group.

Nia rolled her eyes.

 _Yeah, sure, forget about me._ Nia vaulted over the side of the roof and grabbed a ledge two stories down and jumped to the floor.

"Move!" Glynda ordered pushing to the front and grabbing Ruby's head, examining her burn.

Her scapula had a redness to them, and her pupils where misshapen. The part that made her frown the most was that the silvery colour of her irises had dimmed slightly, looking like tarnished metal. Nia walked over and gestured her to lean down.

"I did my best…" she mouthed into her ear.

"Yes General...understood. Professor, I explained to the General about how this girl received burns from Copal and he asked if she could be brought to the infirmary on his ship." Brighid explained walking over.

"Where's Morag?"

"She is dealing with KOS-MOS."

"Hmm, well, it's the least he can do after the mess he brought with him." Glynda spat.

* * *

 **One hour later**

Ruby sat in the infirmary of the Atlasian carrier, eyes wrapped in bandages. She could hear someone typing away on a keyboard. Yang sat in corner of the room, away from everything with Laevateinn sitting beside her, hood fabric-like and down, wrapped in his cloak. Yang briefly glanced at him, which made his steel coloured eyes turn to her. A small smile appeared. Yang looked away. The doctor finished typing and turned to her, pulling up a file.

"Okay, well, there is good and bad news. The bad is mild, so let's start there." she glanced at the record "The skin around your eyes has suffered 4th degree burns, it should have caused severe muscle and bone damage and your eyes should be permanently ruined, blinding you. But, the muscles appear to avoided major damage, and from the eye examination from earlier, several cones and rods in your eyes have been burned away, but not too many. You'll have a scar around your eyes and will require glasses to boost your weakened vision. And the good news is the fact that you somehow only have a scar and need glasses. It's miraculous that's all you need." the doctor finished.

She stood and walked over to Yang and Laevateinn.

"She needs to keep those bandages on for a few days. She'll get a call when she's to return to get them removed and be tested and fitted for glasses. General Ironwood said not to worry though. The Atlasian military will pay for the frames, lens and contact lens that she will receive."

"Got it doc. But, how the hell did she get away with so little damage?" Yang wondered.

"I'm not sure, I watched footage of the incident from a CCTV, she suffered an incredibly hot and powerful flame directly to her eyes. It's truly unbelievable that she avoided blindness."

"Umm, maybe you shouldn't talk about this in front of the rose." Laevateinn pointed out, gesturing towards a fidgeting Ruby.

"Yeah, you're right. Hey Ruby, let's go back to the room."

"O-Okay…" Ruby whispered as Yang grabbed her hand, leading her away.

Laevateinn got up to leave and follow, but the doctor stopped them.

"The General would like to speak with you, if it's alright? He's on the bridge."

"Okay, understood." with a nod, Laevateinn grabbed his hood and caught his long hair in it, putting it up, darkness hiding his upper face, the hair somehow contained in the hood.

And with that, he walked out. The doctor sighed.

"These Blade things are weird…" she muttered.

* * *

Laevateinn reached the bridge and found not only Ironwood there, but also the Blade with cat ears, a blond Blade and a blue haired Blade he had seen earlier, her ruined jacket held under arm. The group all looked at the new Blade, a mix of reactions, ranging from curiosity, annoyance and happiness. Well, only the blond was happy, waving at him.

"Welcome...Laevateinn was it?" a nod "Got it. So, umm, could you remove your cloak and hood." Ironwood requested.

"And summon your weapon." the cat eared blade added.

With another nod, his cloak hardened and unfolded, forming the pincer like appendages, with the hood following, making the duel claws. He summoned his bow, the bowstring forming. He hung it on a one appendage.

"That is really freaky ya know." Nia commented, shuddering.

"I think it's really cool!" the blond blade added.

"It is unusually."

"Anyway, Laevateinn, we just wanted to talk to you briefly. We'll tell you more tomorrow when Ruby, but similar with want we did with Nero here, you will be pretending to be a student of Atlas, with Nero as one of your teammates. And Nia was acting as another, well, three members here would be odd, so along with you, Kora here will be-" "Wait hold on!" Nia yelled, cutting him off.

"I thought I was only meant to hang around when they went on the mission or somethin'! You want me to be on a team with Nero and Laevateinn?! While throwin' Kora in too?!" Nia finished, clearly irritated.

"Yeah? Didn't they tell you? They asked me earlier." Kora brushed off with a handwave.

"They bloody well did not!"

"Listen Nia, in a week, there is a festive and tournament, which will last a week. After that, the General is returning to Atlas. We'll be leaving too. Due to undisclosed reasons, yourself and Kora cannot finish your course. Nero and Laevateinn will transfer to Beacon as a two man team, allowing them to stay with their Drivers. We held off telling you because…" Morag said walking into the room.

"Because they probably knew you would react like this Miss Nia." Nero finished.

"Yeah, that…" Ironwood rubbed his neck.

"Hmm, got it, you'll tell me more tomorrow with rose, right wood?" Laevateinn asked.

"It's Ironwood, James Ironwood." the General corrected offhandedly.

"Oh, yeah, sorry Ironwood." he scratched his cheek nervously, apologising.

"Well Nero, let's go!" Kora cried grabbing Nia and holding her under her arm.

"Wha?! Let go of me Kora!" Nia ordered as she was carried out of the room.

"I felt bad that I had to sleep in a four person room on my own because Mr Ozpin couldn't get me a single person room, now it'll be full." Nero said walking in front of them.

Laevateinn's bow disappeared as he folded the cloak back, but left his hood as claws.

"Goodbye." he waved leaving.

"(Gasp!) We have to think of one of those team names, don't we?!" Kora yelled, still audible.

"HELP ME!" Nia shouted out, no one coming to her aid.

After a few seconds of silence, Ironwood sighed.

"(Sigh) Anyway, how is KOS-MOS?" Ironwood asked.

"She has suffered a severe seizure-like episode and is currently unconscious. Her body is healing slowly, far slower than normal. She most likely won't awaken until her body has healed."

"That was an impressive display of power though, wasn't it though?"

"Indeed, too powerfully. Her body couldn't handle it. Penny is quite distraught."

"Yeah, I can guess, but at least she's alive, and that Copal Blade is gone."

* * *

 **Unknown location, far from Vale**

A speeding object tore through several trees and clipped an outcrop of rock, hitting the ground, the impact creating a creator. Two smaller pieces hit around the hole, virtually exploding into a mess of flesh and blood. For a minute, nothing moved and silence reigned. But, slowly, something struggled and moved, crawling out of the creator. Copal, teeth clenched, crawled out of the hole with her one, damaged arm, exposed bone and muscle straining. Her right leg, still attached, was dragged behind her, useless, due to it being mostly charred bone. She clawed her way over to a smaller impact point, rooting out her arm, although it's little more then fractured bone shards barely held together with skin. The hand lacked it's thumb, index and pinky finger. She shoved the bone into her shoulder, slight healing reattaching the bone, although it remained unusable. She crawled over to another hole, pulling out her leg, surprisingly mostly intact, only slightly damaged. She shoved into the remnant of her leg, before just collapsing fully and laying on her back, looking up at the sky.

Flesh slowly healed...bone mended the best it could...previously unburned skin turned pale, while the burns on her other side lessened. She glanced at her core. A small, shallow crack ran down it, a weak tinge of pain pulsing from it, as well as her whole body. She closed her eyes and simply lay there, healing. A minute passed, then another, then an hour, then another. She opened her eyes...and screamed.

She screamed out into the sky, the forest.

She screamed out her angry,

Her hate,

Everything...she just...released her rage, an inferno surging up and out of her. She engulfed the whole area. A few Grimm drawn to her were consumed in black flames, the Blade vented hatred, rage, resentment, bitterness, pain, all in a burning fire.

She stood, shaking. Her working arm fully healed, the other still missing fingers, but otherwise working. Both legs looked as though they had suffered atrophy, weakened. Her core shone bright, apart from the crack, which was a thin, dimmer light. She summoned a weapon core, using her teeth to pull it apart. Her weapons formed and she attached them, realising her ability to dual wield was lost as she looked at her hand. She summoned a flame to her two fingered hand.

"When I find them…" "They will pay…" "I'm going to kill all them!" She yelled out, her words fading into the burning landscape.

* * *

AN: College has returned, fun.

So, sorry for the delay, I had this mostly ready yesterday, just needed to finish it. Fun fact, most times a chapter comes out, it was mostly done the day before, I just got to finish it, which I always never do.

So, just got to say this, the whole EU internet thing that I thought was on the 22nd and had me worried if I could finish this, kill Youtube, stuff like that, turns out, a lot of stuff is happening about that I didn't know, like how it's being thrown around and appears to be dying...kind of? It's weird, but nothing's happening for a few months, so yeah, that's good...hopefully. The whole thing is complicated.

Pm, review, don't believe internet news wholeheartedly from a random guy writing fanfiction on the internet, he can get stuff wrong.  
Anyway, enjoy.


	22. Chapter 21 Alternate End

Alternate end: Eternal burn

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

As KOS-MOS fell from the sky, Nia finally stood, shaking her head.

 _Uhh, my head feels like I got decked by a gogol._ she rubbing her hair _Ah yeah, that Ruby kid!_

She ran over to Laevateinn, who was watching the spectacle. He turned to Nia.

"Hello, quite an impressive display of power, isn't it?" Laevateinn smiled at the sky "Although she overdid it a bit, like my speed. She'll have to recover her ener-" "Hey, can you bring me up to Ruby?" Nia interrupted him.

"Ruby?"

"Your Driver?"

"Oh, the rose, why? She's safe up there." the Blade questioned.

"Because she got one hell of a burn to the eyes and if she's ever gonna see again, I have to get up there!" Nia explained.

Laevateinn looked at the girl for a second before frowning.

"Got it." he grabbed her and held her in a bridal carry-like stance before leaping into the air, landing on a nearby roof, and then jumped to another, landing near Ruby. She had been attempting to stand gripping the side of the near flat roof, eyes sealed shut by a painful looking burn. Nia jumped out of Blade's arms and walked over.

"Ruby, be careful."

"N-Nia? Where are you? Where am I?!"

"That doesn't really matter at the moment, now lay down." she ordered and turned to Laevateinn "Not a word to anyone about wat I'm about to do."

"Okay…?"

A flash of light enveloped Nia as she changed to her Blade form.

"Wait, you're-?!" "Shut it!" she hissed at him.

She pooled water in her hand and crouched down.

"This is gonna hurt, but that's just it workin' got it?" she asked, Ruby only gave a slight nod "Right."

She placed the water on her burn and eyes, pushing in down, covering it completely. Ruby let out a short yelp and started wiggling in pain and discomfort. An aura of of faint light and drops of water floated around the two.

The pain was progressively worsening, something cool flowing and what felt like stabbing into her face and eyes. But after a few seconds, the pain died off, Ruby feeling her face go back to the worrying numb.

"Huh? What the...it's not...no, just got to give it a little more juice." Nia muttered.

The pain flared up for a few seconds before fading. Then it flared again, and again.

"What the hell, why isn't it workin'?! The cells just keep…!" Nia whispered, sounding worried.

"N-Nia, what's wrong?"

"N-Nothin' kid, just, uhh, the burn's being a persistent asshole."

Nia pressed the water down harder, putting more power into her regenerative ability. The burn would heal slightly before the cells would die again, a heat lingering in the skin. Ruby's eyes fared the same, the lens, cones, rods, everything refused to heal. And Nia was starting to panic.

 _It's...it's never not worked! I, I healed Niall enough to restart his heart after his ribs stabbed through it after the explosion, why?!_ Nia thought.

Laevateinn walked over.

"What's wrong?" he asked into her ear.

"The burn, it's like there's still fire in the cells and eyes. No matter how much I heal, they just keep dying! I...this has never happened before!"

"Nia…" Ruby sat up.

"H-Hey, you gonna lie down if I'm going to heal ya." Nia smiled with a strained tone.

"Something's wrong, isn't it?"

"N-No, I've healed worse, I can do this." Nia summoned up more power, before she stopped "Nhhh, what the-?" her core glew an ominous red as some blue was consumed by red, a pain radiating from it "Gah?! No, not now…!"

"Nia, what's wrong?!"

"Stop! You'll hurt yourself like my speed if you push further!" Laevateinn added.

"This is different to your speed idiot…"

The pain stopped as Nia gasped in air, panting. She summoned an orb of water, a dull discomfort coming from her core.

 _Uhh, I'm going the way of Jin. I did say in the tree that it could be tomorrow, but I thought I had a few more years before instability showed up._ Nia looked at Ruby "I-I'm sorry, my powers, they've crapped out on me. I, I can't fix y-you." tears rolled down her cheeks "The first person I couldn't heal since my sister...I'm sorry Ruby…"

"Nia, you tried, that's all you can do."

"But now you're blind."

"I'll, find a way." Ruby said, knowing full well if she could cry, she would be.

"My rose." Laevateinn crouched down "My name's Laevateinn, we got interrupted earlier, I'm your Blade, and if you can't ever see again, then I shall be your eyes, and protect you." he stated with a sad smile.

"Blade, you're one of the dust people Atlas made."

"Well, you'll be getting a bit more than that from Morag and the General now." Nia commented.

"Ruby?!" Yang yelled from the ground.

Ruby turned and with Laevateinn's help, made her way over to the edge, looking over the side with burnt eyes.

"Yang, you there? How far up am I?"

"Umm, three stories."

"Allow me." Laevateinn picked up Ruby and jumped off the building, landing in front of the growing group.

Laevateinn jumped back up as Nia transformed back to her Driver form. He picked her up and jumped down and dropped her off as Yang grabbed and hugged Ruby. Glynda pushed way over.

"Move! Yang, let me see your sister." Glynda ordered as she examined Ruby's burn.

The skin was black, peeling slightly, exposing damaged flesh. Her eyes were forced shut, the eyelids as bad as the rest of the skin. Glynda looked away, standing up.

 _This is very bad..._ a thought passed through her head.

Nia walked over and refused to met her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't heal her." Nia breathed.

No one heard, except Glynda, whose scowl only grew.

"Yes General...understood. Professor, I explained to the General about how this girl received burns from Copal and he asked if she could be brought to the infirmary on his ship." Brighid explained walking over.

"Where's Morag?"

"She is dealing with KOS-MOS."

"Hmm, well, it's the least he can do after the mess he brought with him." Glynda spat, grabbing Ruby's hand, leading her away with Yang and Laevateinn following.

* * *

 **One hour later**

Ruby sat beside Yang in the infirmary. The doctor had examined Ruby thoroughly and was currently talking to an eye specialist. Yang turned to her sister. The white bandages wrapped around her eyes had been stained yellow from disinfectant and discharge from her skin. She held Yang's hand tight. Laevateinn stood beside the door, the Blade had insisted staying as well, but Yang had told him to stand over there and away from Ruby until she had a talk with him. She swallowed.

"Ruby, I gotta call Dad." she said slowly.

Ruby flinched.

"Ozpin said that I should tell him first, and if I don't ring'em by tonight, he was calling him."

"What are you going to say?"

"Well, that in the breach in Vale he probably knows about, you got hurt really bad. That you're eyes are done for, and anything the doc's going to tell us soon."

"He's going to freak out."

"Surely that just means he cares." Laevateinn added.

"Yeah, pretty much. You know he won't blame you. We also gotta tell him about your plus one." Yang joked.

"Don't put it like that."

Yang chuckled.

"Okay, okay...sorry."

"Excuse me." the doctor spoke to them, the three looking at them "Okay, so. You've suffered 4th degree burns, your deep tissue is burnt to the muscle and even bone. Nerve damage is permanent, nothing we can do to fix it. The skin won't ever heal, you will need a skin graft, the sooner the better. Your eyes are destroyed, no matter what you and your father decide, they will have to be removed, least they start to rot in your head. Until any operation happens, you will need to stay here and have your burns bandaged daily." she explained.

The sisters could only nod.

"I'm going to go call my Dad, can I come back later?" Yang asked the doctor.

"Unfortunately it would be better if you return in the evening. I need to do a few more tests and they are, not pleasant to look at."

"Okay, got it."

Yang stood and walked out of the room, Laevateinn following. The two met Nero just outside the room.

"Hi there, I've come to show Mr Laevateinn to the room we'll be sharing." Nero said.

"Snapdr-...Yang, we'll, talk tomorrow." Laevateinn whispered.

"Thanks, I...I can't deal with that right now." Yang mumbled, walking away.

The two Blades left her alone as Yang opened her scroll and went to her father's number. She looked at the number before tears fell onto the screen as she sat on the floor, quietly sobbing over Ruby's faith, and how her life was ruined.

* * *

General Ironwood stood in Ozpin's office, Morag a bit behind him with Nia, Brighid and Kora. Glynda stood in front of Ironwood, clear anger on her face.

"Well James, I hope your happy with decision to bring those things with you to Vale." she spat at him, venom in her tone.

"Glynda-" "No Ozpin, no more making excuses for him! He chose to bring this person and Blade things with him and look what happened! One of those gems got into someone's hands and became an immortal monster that could have burned Vale to cinders if that KOS-MOS Blade hadn't vaporised her! What are you going to tell Ruby Rose's father?! Well?! 'Sorry, one of Atlas' living superweapons went a bit crazy and incinerated your daughter's eyes, sorry about that'!?" she yelled into his face.

"I'm going to apologise, over and over. I'm going to pay for Ruby's treatment completely. I'm going to offer her Atlas' newest set of artificial eyes, ones that will not be available for several more months to allow us to produce more. I will pay for anything she will need to adjust to her new eyes, if she takes them. I will do anything I can that will allow her to continue in Beacon if she wishes and if she cannot continue for some unknown reason in this academy, she will be allowed into Atlas', no questions." Ironwood listed off, unwavering under Glynda's rage.

"That I believe is everything he can possible do. And I will offer my apologies as well. The Core Crystal was lost under my supervision and I will take full responsible for her injuries." Morag stepped forward, bowing.

"And I...gotta say sorry too. My powers wouldn't work, and I couldn't heal her." Nia added, clear sadness in her voice.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I can usually heal any wound, but the burn, it won't go away, I keep going and trying, but it won't stay healed. I pushed too hard and then, my regeneration cut out, and it hurt to keep going." Nia explained.

"Wait, Nia, you mean like Jin?" Kora asked, worried.

"Yeah…"

"So you stopped trying to fix her burn? Why, did you stop?"

"My healing is part of being a flesheater, we get a boost to are abilities, if we're lucky, but it has side effects, bad ones."

"You should have kept going? What's the worst that could happen?" Glynda approached Nia, her temper flaring up again.

Kora grabbed her arm.

"How about accidentally pushing herself too far and triggering something bad with her body, which started tearing her apart and killing her!?" Kora shouted pushing her back.

"How dare you push me!"

"Maybe I won't have to if you acted like the old woman you are?"

"Excuse me!? How dare you you insult me like that!"

"Well maybe that will teach you not to tell someone to kill themselves by pushing themselves too far."

"Now listen here you blond bit-" "ENOUGH!" Ozpin shouted slamming his cane down, the sound reverberating around the room.

"Glynda, I understand you are upset, angry, but don't forget yourself. You are Glynda Goodwitch, not some force of fury that barrels down on everyone. I'm sure Nia did the best she could, now just, stop."

At the sudden interruption, everyone fell silent. After a minute, Ironwood sighed.

"I am going to go talk to the council." he stated, leaving.

Morag and co followed, leaving the room silent.

* * *

Yang picked up her scroll and dialed her father's number. After a few seconds, he answered.

"Yang?! Oh god, you're okay! How are you, how's Ruby, what's happening there?" Taiyang asked, fear in his voice.

"I-I fine Dad…"

"You're fine? What about Ruby?"

"D-Dad, Ruby...she...she got hurt, really bad…"

"What?! What happened?!" Taiyang sounded frantic.

"I can't go into everything, she got burned in the face pretty bad. They, they said she was blind. No chance to heal. She needs a skin graft…"

"I'm coming right now." Yang heard her father starting to moving around, an audible clatter as he did.

"Dad, you can't just drop everything-" "Yes I can Yang, especially for this. Hey Ryan, tell Geoff I have to leave right now, my daughter got hurt in the Vale breach and I'm going to her right now!" he called out to someone, a muffled conformation coming back.

"I'll be there by tomorrow, what hospital is she in?"

"She on an Atlasian carrier holed up at Beacon, in the sick bay."

"Got it, talk to you when I get there, tell Ruby her Dad'll be there soon, bye Yang." more movement came through the scroll has he hung up.

Yang just placed her scroll down, curling up into a ball.

* * *

AN: So, you may wonder what this is, let me explain.

I wrote the previous chapter, with the ending it has because I had plans for where I was going with it. But I had at one point planned an ending, like this. And like my Touhou fanfiction, I couldn't get this out of my head. So I decided to write this like alternate end, if Nia couldn't heal Ruby's eyes.  
I spent the last 3 1/2 hours writing this, I'm so glad I've gaps in my day to do college stuff, so I could do this. Chapter 21 ending is what I plan on using but, well, who doesn't like a like what if?  
Also, it's a bit short because, well, this would have replaced the bit at the end, with the Copal bit after this.

Not much else really, what do you think?  
Anyway, enjoy.


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter twenty-two: Reluctant plan

 _Italics= character thoughts_

* * *

 **The next day**

Ruby woke up to her sister talking.

"Weiss, why are you to bring her?" she asked.

"I don't know, Professor Ozpin sent me a message telling me to bring Ruby up to his office with Nero and Laevateinn." Weiss answered.

"Yeah, but I'm her sister, I should be the one bringing her up." Yang argued back.

"Yang, we have to get her ready to go, please don't make a scene."

"A scene for who?"

"Your sister?" Blake suggested.

The two looked over to see Ruby looking over at them, eyes covered.

"Hey sis, how do ya feel?"

"My skin feels a bit tight around my eyes, but pretty much fine otherwise." Ruby attempted to hop out of bed, Yang rushing over to catch her.

"Be careful, not being able you see messes with your balance." Blake warned.

"Yeah, careful. Now, let's get you dressed for the day." Yang cooed, treating Ruby like a baby, smiling.

"Yang, I can dress myself, I'm not a baby!" Ruby protested, being carried into the bathroom, clothes underarm.

"I'm not having you show up in front of Ozpin with your top on backwards."

"Yang, stop, please!" the door closed with a thud, Ruby struggling.

"Why does she need those bandages anyway?" Blake asked.

"Most likely to make sure her eyes get rest and are okay." Weiss guessed.

More movement and grunts came from the bathroom.

"She is not happy."

* * *

Nero opened her eyes and hopped out of her bed, looking around. Laevateinn sat on his bed, awake, hood down. He glanced at Nia and Kora. Kora lay on her bed, on top of Nia, having held her in place so she'd stay in the room and sleep. Laevateinn disappeared and reappeared next to Nero, making her jump.

"She really didn't wish to sleep with us in the room." he whispered.

"I think Miss Nia would have preferred not getting involved with this 'team'" Nero suggested.

"Hmm, not sure why, she's a Blade like us. And the electric girl. Who's her Driver?"

"I don't think she has one." Nero said, rubbing her neck.

"She has to have one."

"She has a Blade though, Blades can't have Blades, even I know that.

"Will both of you shut it" Nia groaned, escaping Kora's grasp.

"Nooo Mythra...not the dance…(snore) I won...Morag and Vale are full of stupid…" Kora snored, still asleep.

"So, is it because of the red stuff in your core? You said it was because you're a...flesh...something." Nero asked.

"I'm not talkin' about that."

"You can change though, and you lack a Driver." Laevateinn stood, glaring "Blades need Drivers."

"Listen, both of ya, I'm not talking about that stuff, it's personal. Imma not about to discuss it with some random Blades I gotta babysit." Nia shut the two down, Nero folding her arms.

Laevateinn shrugged with a frown "We're not babies. You make it sound like you have to monitor constantly." Laevateinn complained.

"Well, supposedly Mr Ironwood doesn't want people to know about Blades." Nero added.

"Why?"

"Well, when we meet him...soonish, he'll explain. Lets go get Ruby and Weiss. Kora, get up." Nia elbowed Kora, the girl shooting up.

"Nickel!" she yelled, half asleep.

"Nickel…?"

"NNKL! The team thing! I thought of it when you all fell asleep." she announced.

"We weren't talking about that…" Laevateinn stated, staring.

"Well, whatever, it's a good name I think."

"Miss Kora, that's not the point."

"Well, lets go." she stood up, not listening.

"Does she listen...ever?" Laevateinn asked.

"Sometimes."

* * *

 **RWBY dorms**

Yang dragged Ruby out of the bathroom, dressed and pouting.

"You could have let me try."

"You did, you put your hood on backwards." Yang sniggered.

Weiss shook her head, sighing. Ruby should just accept the help for the few days she needs it, then Yang won't tease her...much. Blake checked her Scroll.

"It's 9:30, when did Ozpin want you?" she asked.

"10, so we need to leave now." Weiss stated walking over and grabbing Ruby's hand.

As she lead her away, Ruby fidgeted.

"Weiss, be careful, my arm." Ruby warned, rubbing her burn.

 _Oh yeah, after all that happened, I forgot about that_ "Sorry." she opened the door to Nero and Laevateinn, Nero about to knock.

"Oh, hi! We got here just in time. Miss Nia and Miss Kora have gone on to meet Mr Ironwood already." Nero explained.

"Alright then, let's go." the four left quickly, leaving Yang and Blake alone.

"Why do I get the feeling something more is going on with those Blade, dust...people?" Blake asked, confused about what Blades actually were.

"There probably is more, we just don't get to know it...for some reason."

Weiss lead Ruby towards Ozpin's office, the two Blades following. She glanced back at Nero, her markings and Core exposed.

"Nero, I thought you were meant to cover up your core and marks?" Weiss asked turning back, noticing the group was getting looks from the few students hanging around.

"Well, I thought it would be less noticeable then walking around in a damaged, blood stained jacket." she retorted.

"...Good point."

Silence reigned from that point on, the only sound being the occasional chatter of students and feet on floor, well, until the group went outside, then birds and wind joined in. It was weird for Ruby, all she saw was white cloth. She would stumble occasional, Weiss or Laevateinn catching her, mostly Laevateinn, appearing beside her instantly to grab her shoulders. He was, unnervingly fast, faster than Ruby, but after the third save he started limping on his right leg. Weiss stopped Ruby just in time and looked at the Blade.

"I can handle my partner, so I'd prefer if you didn't break your legs saving her." Weiss warned, Laevateinn frowning.

"It'll take more for that to happen, my muscles are just hurting from the rush/stop/rush/stop tactic." he explained.

"Then maybe you shouldn't do that?" Ruby suggested, the robed Blade grimacing.

"What if the snowdrop doesn't catch you?"

"Snowdrop?" Weiss stared at him.

"Well, it's better then ice queen, isn't it Weiss?" Nero shrugged.

"Just call me Weiss." she said stopping at the elevator to Ozpin's office.

"Okay."

Weiss hit the button and the four stood and waited, and waited...and waited. After Laevateinn pushed the button seven more times, earning a slap on the wrist from Weiss, the door opened to reveal Penny, the girl noticing the four.

"Hello friends! Are you going up to talk to the headmaster?" she asked stepping out of the lift.

"Yes Miss Polendina, Mr Ironwood wishes to talk to Miss Rose about her Blade." Nero pointed to Laevateinn.

"Got it, well, see you later." she walked away, the four going it.

The trip to the top was silent, only the low hum of the elevator stopping complete silence. Soon, a bing sounded and the door opened to a sitting Ozpin behind his desk, General Ironwood to the side on the opposite side and Kora and Nia sitting on chairs. Nia turned to the four.

"Just on time." she smirked.

"Well, Penny was in the elevator for a while coming down and we couldn't go while she was in it." Weiss shrugged, leading Ruby over.

"Well, that doesn't matter. Miss Rose." the air seemed to grow tense "What you are about to hear is not allowed to be said to anyone except a few select people." Ozpin said in a low tone.

"Is this like the previous thing?" she asked.

"No, it's a bit more serious then that, and yet, you don't need to sign anything. Ruby, you need to hear about Blades…"

* * *

After Ironwood finished explaining, Ruby looked, surprised...to say the least.

Kora sat with a semi-bored expression.

 _Well that was edited and changed a bit_ she commented in her head.

"So, you cannot tell anyone about this, except the people in this room, Morag, and Penny." Ironwood finished.

"This, makes more sense then Atlas somehow making gem people." Ruby rubbed her bandaged arm "So, how long do I have to wear this?" she asked pointing to her eyes.

"On Friday night, you will have your eyes tested, you can pick out some frames and the Atlas military will have them ready by Saturday afternoon, at the latest." Ironwood explained.

"Okay...got it, don't talk about alternate world. Wait, Weiss, you knew about all this?" Ruby realised.

"Well, yes. But I couldn't tell you, or anyone about it. Which I didn't really like."

"At least you now know as well Miss Rose."

"Yeaaaah...this is weird."

"Tell me about it…" Ironwood agreed.

And with that all said, the group left, Ruby turning in the vague direction of Laevateinn.

"So...what's your weapon."

"A bow, that can turn into a scythe." he replied.

Ruby went starry eyed...well, presumably starry eyed, judging by the noise she made.

"When I get my glasses, can I see!?"

"Your my Driver, you can use it if you want."

Another indescribable noise escaped Ruby as the lift door closed, leaving the other four alone.

"Now, about what we were discussing before." Ironwood turned back to Ozpin.

"James, you can't expect me to let these Blades fight in the tournament." Ozpin shook his head.

"Yeah, we don't have that aura stuff and we'd just regenerate any wound we get. People would know somethin's up." Nia said, bewildered by Ironwood's suggestion.

"Listen, we don't know a lot about Blades, and a combat tournament is the perfect place to see them in action in a safe environment. We need more information."

"Then go catch some monsters and let us beat'em up somewhere." Kora suggested.

"Wouldn't it be suspicious if a team from Atlas came to Vale and didn't participate?"

"'Oh no, Laevateinn's leg exploded and although he got it fixed up he can't fight, wat a shame.'" Nia joked in a mocking tone.

"Perfect, some of the teachers saw that happen in the breach right? So there's a reason, team NNKL can't fight. Which is a bit sad, I would have loved to see how well we'd do and…" Kora trailed off.

"Don't call us tha'" Nia moaned, embarrassed by the name.

"Listen, all of you, I have a way to make it far for the Blades to fight." Ironwood pulled out a small shield generator " This is an experimental hard-light dust shield generator. It can make a shield around a person and take hits like an aura until the dust reserve runs out. If we hook up the aura reader to use this instead of their 'aura'..." he shrugged.

"You are determined to make us fight children, aren'tcha?" Nia frowned.

"Oz, please, this is my last favour to you for a while." Ironwood begged.

The professor leaned back in his chair.

"If you know, for certain that this will work, and the four wish to participate. Then, I guess I could let it slide. But James, this is it, no more pushing, you're at the limit." Ozpin warned.

"Thanks Oz."

"Pushy much…" Nia sneered.

"Hey, where is Morag and Poppi?" Kora whispered leaning over.

"Morag and Brighid are gonna be talkin' to Penny and visiting KOS-MOS, and Poppi, Perun and Herald are doling out the ether into daily doses."

"Oh, got it."

* * *

 **Thursday**

Nero wore a baggy yellow jumper over her top half, covering her core. Due to her jacket getting ruined and covered in blood and...Blade goo, Weiss was dragging her across Vale to get her a new one, like she promised.

"Weiss, we could wait a day or two." Nero said, wondering why they were rushing.

"No, we can't really. The General wants Blades to be a secret and you walking around with your markings and core exposed will make that difficult. Especially because you take off your uniform as soon as you can." Weiss shot back, smirking.

"It's tight on me and crushes my chest. I like my Core free and not squished under seven layers." Nero complained "Also, I look weird in this." she poked the jumper.

"One, it's three layers, and two, my jackets are too small on you, you can't close the front and Ruby and Blake didn't have anything suitable."

"Miss Rose's jackets and jumpers would be too small as well even if she had any."

After another five minutes of walking, Weiss stopped in front of a clothing shop. It had a similar look to the last shop they went to, Elysium hills, but smaller...less fancy. Which Nero didn't mind. She wasn't one for fashion. A sign on top read Elysium planes...cute.

 _A sub brand maybe?_ Nero questioned as Weiss dragged her in.

The store was smaller inside too, the stock consisting of t-shirts, jeans, skirts, simple dresses...and jackets. This was more like it. Nero wandered over to the jackets as a bored woman of no more than thirty glanced up from her Scroll, uninterested, before suddenly perking up, rapidly looking between the two. That made Weiss uncomfortable, why was she doing that?

Nero examined the jackets, skimming the selection. Green, red, purple, black...a lot of black. She wanted a blue one though, like her old one, sky blue. Although it appeared that that was an uncommon colour. After a few minutes of searching, Nero fished out a jacket from the back of a rack. It looked like it had been there for a while, the style of it was completely different to the ones in front of it. The outer layer was a waterproof, nylon like material while the inside was polyester. It looked...alright. It was a size too big...but was sky blue, all of it was sky blue. Weiss looked at it.

"Hmm, that looks...interesting." she strained.

It looked like a cheap knock-off of her original jacket.

"It's the right colour, and I think it looks fine." Nero smiled pulling off the jumper and trying it on.

It suited her alright, could do better.

"If it's the one you want, I won't complain, your old one was pretty unique."

Nero responded by taking it off, handing it Weiss and putting the jumper back on. Weiss turned to the casher and to find her still looking at them.

 _Time to pay and leave_

Weiss walked over and the woman snapped out of her trace, cracking her hands.

"S-Sorry, a bit distracted, umm, yes, is this all?" she asked, Weiss nodding.

The woman took the jacket and scoffed.

"Mmm, man, this was from three months ago, I'm surprised we actually still had this, and anyone wanted it. Well, I shouldn't be surprised, looking at her." she sneered, pointing at Nero

"What was that?" Weiss fumed, hands on hips.

"Nothing, Schnee."

Weiss' eye twitched, the nerve of this woman. It didn't matter. Just buy the jacket and leave. Weiss quickly used her card and and after a second and a beep, took the bag from the woman.

As they left, the woman grabbed her Scroll.

 _That tabloid better pay big for this_ she smiled taking a picture of the two leaving.

Weiss stomped away from the shop, Nero walking after her.

"Why are people so rude!" she yelled, annoyed.

"I'm not sure Weiss, did I do anything?" Nero asked.

"No, of course not, just-" Weiss' Scroll beeped.

She glanced at the email before frowning, putting it away.

"Weiss, what's wr-" beep "wrong, who*beep* is trying to*beep* get you?"

"My father, someone I don't want to talk to right now. Anyway, ignoring that, why not put on your new jacket?" Weiss said changing the subject, which Nero let slide.

With a nod, Nero took out the jacket and quickly changed, zeeping up the front. She looked like someone had bought her a gift for a birthday and was told that she'd grow into it in a few months. The sleeves reached her knuckles and the bottom reached her waist. She just laughed.

"Despite the size, I really do like it." she laughed.

"Good, I'm glad you do. It is a thank you gift." Weiss looked away " for saving me…" Nero ran over and hugged her, Weiss only shaking her head, joining in.

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

Laevateinn sat in team RWBY's dorm, Blake reading and Yang calling someone. Ruby lay on her bed, kicking her legs. Yang sighed and was about to hang up her Scroll when it was answered.

"Yang, sorry, sorry! Are you okay?! Things have been a little hectic here." Taiyang, Yang and Ruby's father asked, clearly nervous.

"Dad, I'm fine, and Ruby...she's fine...ish."

"What?! What do you mean fineish?!"

Yang responded by throwing Ruby the Scroll flying by her head and landing beside it.

"Hmm?" "Ruby, my Scroll's beside you." "Oh, hi dad."

"Ruby, are you okay?"

"Well, I kind of got a burn on my arm that'll scar I think, it isn't too bad and I...kind of need glasses now, which Atlas are providing because it was something they made that messed up my eyes." Ruby explained.

"...WHAT?!"

"Dad, calm down, it isn't too bad supposedly. I should have been blinded, but I'm not. I just need glasses and contacts. And I have a scar on my eyes too."

"Rose is being expectantly calm about this." Laevateinn stated, somewhat impressed.

"I think the fact that she isn't blind is making her take this decently well." Blake added.

"I'm coming to Beacon."

"What?! No dad, I'm fine, really-"

"You have a scared arm, and eyes, need glasses, you could have been blinded, I'm getting next week off because of the Vytal festival, so instead of watching the tournament from home, I'm going to come over there, and check to make sure that my daughter is okay. I think that's reasonable, don't you think?" he asked sarcastically.

"Y-yeah dad, perfectly reasonable. See you on Monday." and with that, Taiyang hung up.

"Ohhh, now we have to deal with dad...how am I gonna explain Laevateinn?"

"He's a weird dust person Atlas made who got genetically bond to you." Yang shrugged.

Ruby turned toward her with a pout.

"Anyway, yo Laevateinn, I still have to talk to you." Yang stood and walked over.

"About whaaaat?!" she grabbed his raised hood and dragged him out the door "S-snapdragon? S-stop!" he pleaded as he disappeared out the door "Nightshade, help me!"

"I'm not getting involved in that." Blake whispered turning a page.

Yang dragged and dumped the Blade on a balcony down the hallway.

"So, I need to make sure you won't do anything to Ruby."

Laevateinn stood up and pulled down his hood, a confused look on his face.

"Do what? She my Driver, if she dies, I die. Why would I do anything to her?" he questioned.

"Listen, Ruby is young, naive and a bit gullible, I don't want you doing any funny crap with her." Yang warned.

"Like what?" Yang's stare grew stronger "Wait, do you mean…? What the hell snapdragon!"

"One, it's Yang, two, you better not-" "I'm going to stop you there. Listen, your her sister, I get it. You wish to protect her. But dragging me away and threatening me isn't necessary. It wouldn't be for most people. Not everyone in this world is going to be some asshole or evil guy...I hope, your world isn't filled with evil assholes, is it?"

"Well, there are a few…" Yang thought of Cardin as she spoke.

"Well, I'm not one of them. Rose...Ruby, I'll protect her, if she needs it. But you can't lock her in a little bubble forever. You have to let her do her own thing. Let her be her, and if it causes or attracts trouble? She has you, and me." Laevateinn held out a hand "So...Yang?"

The blond looked over the Blade before grabbing his hand, near crushing the metal as she shook it.

"Good answer Laev." she smiled.

* * *

 **Friday, Atlas dust research center**

Dr Polendina scribbled a few notes into a journal as more dust mixed.

 _Hopefully I'm nearly there, because I'm starting to think you can't make this stuff stable_ he thought to himself.

The sword that had shot out last time had yielded nothing yet, mainly because touching it electrocuted who ever touched it. The gem couldn't be removed and it weighed a ton...a literal ton, according to the scales. How could anyone use that thing? If it was a blade's weapon, maybe they could hold it but Drivers were supposed to be able to use them too.

The dust started bubbling and glowing, maybe it would work...hopefully. A deep sound echoed from the vat, the metal warping.

"(sigh) Fantastic." the doctor deadpanned.

* * *

 **Corpse of Mor Ardain titan**

Zeke wandered around the side of a derelict ether mine, scratching his head. Brighid, Nia and Kora were supposedly near this thing before they disappeared. Morag, Poppi, Perun and Herald too. But apart from being a crumbling hole in the ground filled with purple, stagnant ether, there really was nothing special. He sighed.

"There isn't anything here. Where the hell'd they go?" he questioned to himself as Pandoria walked over to him.

"Sooo...you find anything?"

"Take a guess."

"Yeah, there's nothing here. Like, at all. You know my prince, even the monsters have left."

"I get why, it's a scorcher today." Zeke commented fanning himself with his hand.

"Welllll, more like everyday. The titan's body is heating up daily, and not cooling down fast enough at night." Pandoria explained "This place will probably fall apart in a month."

"Hmm, a damn shame though, all the other titans made it, this guy just could handle the strain."

"If that fight had kept up, Genbu would have died too."

"A bit weird how the titan hasn't faded though." Zeke wondered as the ground rumbled slightly.

"Uh oh, I think we should leave soon." the blade suggested as the quack grew stronger, the ether glowing.

"That's not normallll?" Zeke cried out as he stumbled backwards and the cliff side fell away partially. "Not again!"

Pandoria leapt over to her falling Driver and grabbed his hand.

"Usually I let you fall, but this is a bad place." she joked as the ground collapsed, Zeke banging into the side of the cliff wall, Pandoria holding on "Okay, getting worse!"

"Pandy, do something!"

"What the hell am I supposed to do?!" the shaking lessened, Pandoria taking advantage of that, fixing her footing.

"Come onnnn!" she grunted through grit teeth.

She yanked Zeke back, a bag with chibi patterns of the two sewed onto it snagging on a rock. One final pull dragged him back onto semi-solid ground as the bag's cord tore and it fell down into the mine. The prince of Tantal gasped in air, fear having made his breath stop.

"Well that was a experience." he coughed, smiling.

"Don't treat this like a joke! That was serious!" Pandy complained.

"Wha, bu-!? You were jokin' about saving me from falling!" Zeke shot back.

"Yeah, I'm allowed to diss my driver, remember."

"You are not!"

"Heh, anyway, what fell? And why was the ether glowing."

"It was the pouch you got me for my birthday, and no clue."

"Aww, I liked that bag." Pandoria pouted.

"Yeah, me too. Rex is gonna be annoyed though, the core from his aunt was in it, along with my three spare cores." Zeke said, worried.

"Tell him you nearly died and he'll forgive you."

"I mean, I guess. We gotta go tell people about the glow though, it's not normal for it to do that."

"Yeah, let's go."

* * *

 **Atlas dust research center**

There was no boom, no explosion, just a deep groan and the dust bubbles popping and spilling over the sides.

"Hmm, well, no weapons or people yet." he commented walking down and over to the vat.

Several people in hazmat suits walked over and started spraying down the sides and one stuck a tube into the vat, draining away the dust. After a minute, it jammed. Dr Polendina walked over as two men struggled to unclog the tubes mouth. After a few seconds of pulling, one man pulled something free, hosing it down. The doctor walked up to him

"Oh, hello doctor, sorry for the delay, this jammed it."

"I know, can I have it?" he asked, all but ordering it.

The man handed him the soaked, stained...bag? He opened it and glanced inside, spotting something he wished wasn't there. Core crystals. The tube was reinserted as he walked away, telling one worker to call him if they find anything. He fished out his Scroll as he grabbed a plastic hazmat bag.

Winter stomped through the base, scowling. She was leaving for Vale again in two days, at night, to arrive at a decent time on Monday. She had work to do, a sample to get, a message to write up, a report to check, and she didn't need to be called to this damned facility again on another cryptic message. The same message as last time.

'Go to the room you met James in last time.'

 _There better not be more Blades or people..._ she fumed internally.

She opened the door to see Dr Polendina sitting down, alone, a yellow bag at his side.

"Yes Dr Polendina? What is it?" she asked, annoyed.

"Simple Specialist Schnee, I've some cores for you." he stated dumping the bag on the table, the gems banging together.

"What, more? I thought we'd seen the last of them." she lamented shaking her head.

"They came through on my last experiment. I thought you should bring them to James."

"Or you could look them in a safe so there's no chance that anyone could get a hold of them?" Winter suggested.

"Well, I sent a message to James as well, and he told me to make sure you had them, also to call him."

"Fine, fine." she grabbed the bag and took out her Scroll, calling Ironwood as she walked out.

"General?" she asked as it was answered.

"Meh, sorry friend, Ironman talking to Professor." Poppi said quietly.

"What, Poppi? Why to you have the General's Scroll?"

"Because Ironman busy...hmm, it Winter...but you said-" "Hello, Winter?" a rustle came through the Scroll as Ironwood spoke.

"General, why did she have your Scroll, and these Cores, why?" Winter asked, annoyed.

"Sorry, I was speaking to Ozpin, and the Cores? Well, after Dr Polendina told me they had appeared, well, I thought it would be better if they were brought here, to people who know about them." he explained.

"To the people who managed to get two of the four gems used with one missing?"

"Well, make it all four used…"

"So how is this a good idea?"

"They would be safer here then locked up there, in my eyes. Can you please bring them with you? And come sooner?" he asked.

"How much sooner?" Winter wondered out loud, worried.

"Hmm, leave today?"

Winter held her Scroll down at her side and sighed "Why?"

"We've been increasing security and would appreciate if you could come early with a few Atlasian Knights and the cores. Don't worry about the reports and samples, they're less important then this." and with that, he hung up.

Winter held up the bag and sighed again. To and fro, pulled back and forth, this was a nightmare.

Winter came to her airship and boarded, dumping the bag with the cores on the co-pilot seat. She quickly took off and flew away from the base, rising above the icy wasteland surrounding the base, flying directly towards the capital, held high above the frozen ground. She glanced at the radar as she sped over the wastes, noticing a single red dot.

 _A griffin most likely._ She commented in her head, before it was joined by a second, and third.

That was worrying.

"Why are there airborne Grimm near the facility, or even close to Atlas? They should have been shot-" a heavy thud shook the ship.

"The hell?!" the radar showed more Grimm, a swarm appearing.

A flock of small Nevermores landed on the glass, pecking away. Winter flicked a switch, an electric field pulsing out, shocking and killing the small Grimm. Another hit from below. Winter pulled up and pulled up a screen, showing a mass of dark swarming below her, Grimm clawing at the air.

"This hoard...it should have been dealt with before it amassed like this." a hail of feathers flew towards her, Grimm charging forward too.

She hit another switch, a hard-light barrier forming behind her, the feathers crashing into it. She pushed a button.

"This is Specialist Winter Schnee, I require assistance. A large hoard of airborne Grimm are converging on my position, and it appears that ground forces are amassing as well." she spoke into a microphone.

"Understood Specialist Schnee, we will dispatch a strike force immediately, please attempt to flee while staying clear of populated areas." a woman said robotically.

Winter rolled her eyes.

"I'm not stupid." she muttered as she felt another hit, shaking the ship.

"What are they doing?!" a griffin appeared at the front, clawing at the glass.

It's eyes weren't looking at Winter though, they were staring at…

"The gems…"

A sudden crash of Grimm shattered the hard-light shield as a hail hit the back of the airship, something attacking an engine.

"No, get off!" Winter began deploying every safely measure she had.

A shock, a pulse, she turned and shook the ship, rolling, attempting to get the Grimm off. Another one slashed an engine, the machine detonating and killing the thing, but the damage was done, the ship began a nose dive.

"Damn it, stupid thing!" she yelled through closed teeth.

It was too late though, the ground was fast approaching. And just as fast as it fell, the airship crash into the wastes, the force rocketing Winter forward, colliding face first into the control panels, the impact near caving her head in, her aura saving her, but shattering, drained completely stopping her. She lay there, head down, a head splitting pain throbbing in her skull. She lifted her head up, vision blurred. Winter felt her head, shying away from the pain, her hand covered in blood.

"Ugh...not good…" a bang and clatter came from the roof, claws scratching along the top.

 _I...I'm in not condition to fight..._ she pulled back, leaning into her seat _They won't be here in time._

She looked her side, the core bag sat on the floor. Grimm began clawing pulling away at the back hatch.

 _I won't survive fighting them, the strike team won't make it in time...well, time to try my luck. What's the worst that could happen? Die by rejection? If the Grimm get in, I'm died. Sorry if this causes trouble General._

Winter leaned over into the bag, her head pain worsening as she grabbed a core crystal, pulling it back and sitting back. The core started to shine a blue light as energy flowed out of it as the light grew brighter and brighter, before it left her hand, flying into her. After a few seconds, it left her, a ball of light landing beside her, forming into a human shape.

"Gre….e is…..kay?!" Winter couldn't hear the person, darkness closing in.

"Stop the...Grimm…" she whispered as she fainted.

* * *

 **10 minutes later**

An airship landed down next to a crashed ship, a few Grimm wandering around it. Several soldiers jumped out and shot at the monsters, the lightly armoured beasts falling to the bullets. A soldier along with a woman in a thick coat with a heavy bag ran over to the back hatch, the metal rended open by claws.

"Specialist Schnee! Are you alright?!" he called out.

He shone a light into the wreckage, noticing a quiet sobbing coming from the front. The two ran over, past several mostly faded Grimm and stopped at the sight.

A young girl, barely fifthteen from her appearance, clutched Winter in her arms. Winter's sleeves were tore, the girl having used them to wrap her bleeding head. The girl had short, off-white hair with a sandy yellow, almost gritty coloured bangs. She wore a simple white dress, barely reaching her knees. From her elbows and knees down, it looked like she limbs were made of glass or crystal, that had dirt or sand trapped in them, colouring them brown. Yellow/orange markings ran along her exposed skin. She looked at them, green eyes crying, a snowflake gem inlaid in her forehead. A short katana like weapon was by her side, the scabbard stuck in the floor by a spiky blade.

"Help her, please!"

* * *

AN: Oh boy, technology hates me.

So, short story, this story has been delayed by a few days...like ten, because my laptop started freaking out flashing lights at me when charging, which scared me. It's sorted now. If the story's a bit disjointed, blame that, I think it's fine.

So, new Blade, story is coming along, info from volume six coming in handy, back from the dark timeline, generally everything is cool.

Final thing, has anyone been getting Pm from bots asking you to go to dating sites? Got one yesterday. It confused the hell out of me because I saw the email and kind of just...deleted the Pm without opening it. Weird stuff.

Pm, review, don't have an obviously fake username bot send messages to people.  
Anyway, enjoy.


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter twenty-three: Time drags on

 _Italics= character thoughts_

 **Warning: Just a little heads up. I'm stupid and messed up with a select few lines in the last chapter about Penny and KOS-MOS. Not a massive bit but it makes a bit in here seem a bit off and not make sense. I've fixed it and updated it, so if you just ctrl f penny in previous chapter and read the slight change to the places with Penny things make sense. I was a forgetful and made a mistake, sorry!**

* * *

 **Later that Friday**

Ironwood tapped the arm of the chair he was sitting in in his quarters. Winter should have called him when she was leaving. He didn't ask her to, but well, he thought she would, she always has. So this was a little worrying. He took out his Scroll, dialing her number. After a minute of ringing, someone answered.

"Uhh, h-hello…? Is this working? I...uhh…" a young sounding girl answered.

"Hello, who is this? How do you have Specialist Schnee's Scroll?" Ironwood was curious, and a bit worried.

"Oh eh, well, I-I'm in a big ship sitting in a side room as the doctors examine my...my Driver after she got hurt. I don't know a lot of the details. They just left her, thingy here with me in case someone called. My name is Gneiss. Hello." Gneiss explained.

Ironwood froze. Winter was hurt, and badly from the sound of it. But she also had a Blade...something obviously happened.

"Could you hand the Scroll over to someone that can give me more details?" he asked, Gneiss humming an agreement.

"Okay, what's your name."

"General Ironwood."

He heard her stand and a door open, then a quiet yell, before something moved the Scroll, a cough coming through.

"General Ironwood, I apologise for you having to deal with that annoying girl, we don't know where she came from and a soldier insisted on her keeping the Scroll on her." a man spoke, audibly scoffing at most likely Gneiss.

"It's fine, what happened?"

"Well, Specialist Schnee was on her way back from the dust research facility when she was beset by an abnormal level of Grimm. They downed her ship and she was injured, near killed. A serious concussion, a split head and slight frost bite on her arms from some **idiot** using her sleeves as a bandage for her head wound!" he yelled, a sad squeak coming through line, most likely Gneiss.

"Will she be alright?"

"Most certainly, she is receiving the best care the Atlas military can give. She is currently unconscious, after briefly regaining it, but expressed confusion on how she came to be here. She may have suffered some memory loss from her crash. She will be bed ridden for at least a week as her head wound heals and the stitches settle. She will also need a few memory and psychological checks done once she is fit enough to ensure the trauma did no permanent harm. Over all, she will be out of service for minimum a week, and sometime after I think." the man explained.

"I see. Did she have some form of bag with her, with dust like gems?"

"Oh those. Yes, the girl took them and now is guarding them like a dog. She won't let anyone touch 'her driver's cores' whatever the hell that means. She also said they're 'dangerous to most humans.' I doubt these dust crystals are harmful to only humans, are Faunus okay to handle them? She's speaking nonsense. And also how dare she claim that Specialist Schnee is only a driver of a vehicle! The nerve of some children."

"That's not want I meant." Gneiss said, her voice coming through.

"Could you hand the Scroll back to Gneiss?"

"Uh fine. I have work to do." he complained.

"Hello, General?"

"Yes Gneiss. Thank you for keeping those Cores away from everyone, I don't need a new mess caused by them."

"Of course. They're my Driver's. By the way, what is my Drivers name. No one will tell me." she sounded disheartened.

"Her name is Winter Schnee. And she is a specialist in the Atlasian army. And if your her Blade, however that happened, you would technically be her subordinate. And as General, that would mean I'm your commanding officer. The reason I'm saying this is because those Cores were meant to be delivered to me, by Winter, and so are more the property of the military. So I'd like you to keep a hold of them, not because they're Winter's, but because they're the military's and I'd like them not used, okay." Ironwood ordered...in a roundabout way.

"Okay!"

"Good, now, when Winter is done being treated, I'd like you to stay with her, with the Cores and Scroll. If anyone tries to stop you." he sent a email, which popped up on Winter's Scroll "Show them that. Hopefully Winter will wake up by Monday so I can speak to her. And even if she doesn't, I'll need to talk to you about something important."

"Understood...so do I ask to go to her or…?"

"Wait another hour, then ask."

"Okay, thanks General. Goodbye." and with that, the call ended.

Ironwood fell back in his chair.

"Well, that's now something to worry about."

* * *

 **Meanwhile**

Nia wandered into the medical wing, stopping at a door with a little notice stuck on it, 'Kosmos'. She opened the door to find Penny, sitting alone on a chair, looking at KOS-MOS. The Blade looked alright, to an extent. The doctor had managed to remove her visor, which had partially fused to her face and removed the metal shards. She had bandages over the cuts due to them not regenerating, something Morag was concerned about. Her core was dim, but still had a soft glow.

"Heya." Nia walked over to the ginger.

"Oh, hello Nia."

She looked over at the Blade.

"She'll be fine, in a bit. Herald thinks she used too much energy and shorted out her machine half. Tha' probably messed with her body, stopping her healing until it sorted itself out. The lack of ether in the air most likely messed with it too. She needs rest, get her head sorted out, then she'll heal and everything be'll fine." Nia reassured.

"Yeah, I hope."

"Hmm, I wonder." she stood by the bed "I can't fix her visor...well, I can heal blade weapons, so maybe I could. Yeah, even if she is a bit mechanical, I could maybe heal it. It's part of her." Nia muttered grabbing the damaged metal.

"What are you talking-" in a flash Nia changed to her Blade form "about. (gasp) Wait, are you a Blade?"

"No, I'm the gingerbread man."

"You're a man?" Penny joked, remembering what she said to Ruby about Blake.

Nia glanced back, looking like she was about to tear Penny's head off, before turning back. She summoned an orb of water, sticking the visor in it. The melted, damaged metal reformed and regenerated. She pulled the bandages off and rubbed the water over them, the cuts closing. She placed the visor on her forehead, the remnants of the water fixing the clasps. She turned fully, smirking.

"I don't wanna try fixing anything inside her in case that breaks somethin' but healing her face and visor is enough of a 'hey, now your body doesn't have to deal with that.'"

"Thank you Nia." Penny whispered.

"No problem kid, nothing wrong with a little help." in a flash, she was back to her more, 'faunus' form.

"So, are you a Blade? Does that mean Morag is the only human with you?"

"Yeah, I'm what's called a Flash Eater, and no, I don't eat people" Penny closed her slowly opening mouth "and yeah, pretty much."

"Wow, that must be odd."

"Nah, she's used to us."

After another minute of idle chat, someone opened the door. A black haired, dark skinned girl walked into the room, staring at the two.

"Hello?" Nia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hello, my name is Ciel Soleil, a student from Atlas that is to be one of three team members of Miss Polendina. Myself and the two other members have just finished our special training and I was asked by the General to retrieve Miss Polendina so we could all discuss some specifics."

"Oh yes, I forgot about all that. Between Ruby and KOS-MOS it slipped my mind."

"That is no problem ma'am, I shall endeavor to ensure you remember all important meetings and arrive on schedule." she announced.

"O-Okay, umm, Nia, could you watch KOS-MOS until I get back?"

"Got it." she gave a thumbs up as she left.

Ciel lead Penny to the bridge of the ship, opening the door find Ironwood speaking to a blond, short haired boy in an Atlas uniform and a pale grey hair girl with glasses and a blank expression. The boy turned and gave an...overly happy smile.

"Miss Polendina, a pleasure to meet you, my name is Simon Normare, one of your team members for the tournament. My father works with yours and I'm so pleased to meet you." he shook her hand with a wide grin, the sickeningly fake tone making her feel, uncomfortable.

The girl walked over.

"Noire, nice to meet you." she gave a slight nod, before turning to the wall.

She was shaking.

 _Is she nervous?_

"Well Penny, these three will be your team for the Vytal tournament. I know you are now just meeting them, but they are all quite skilled and ready to assist you if you are having trouble in the tournament." Ironwood stated, Ciel nodding.

"Yes, we were picked from the three top rated teams in Atlas. I have reviewed your previous fights and am certain that we will be able to help in battle if needed. Although we most likely will not need to." Ciel remarked "I will also be acting as your personal assistant until your current one has recovered. I will make sure you arrive on time to your needed placements."

"General?" Penny looked at Ironwood, put off.

"Ciel, insisted…" he rubbed his neck.

"You will find I am as capable an organiser and fighter as this Kosmos is. Now we will be retiring for the night. Ma'am, I will bring you back to Kosmos before I go to bed." Ciel guided Penny out, Simon and Noire walking after.

Ciel delivered Penny to the marked room and bowed.

"If you are staying in that room I will come get you in the morning so we can run through a few drills to ensure we can work effectively together. See you tomorrow ma'am." she saluted and left, marching away.

Penny walked into the room to find Nia picking at her jumpsuit, playing with a stray tread from the repair work done to fix the slice Copal took out of it.

"So, how was it."

"It was alright *hic*"

* * *

 **Saturday, Atlasian ship**

Gneiss sat on a small chair beside Winter's bed. She had a bandage wrapped around her upper head and was hooked up to a bag of liquid. Gneiss fidgeted back and forth as a doctor check on Winter. He would glare at her every once and awhile. She rubbed her hands together, failing to notice the soft grating noise her crystalline limbs were making as they rubbed off each other. It only seemed to make the doctor stare more. They had tried to stop her for coming into see her yesterday, but the message from the General had made them relent. No one had bothered to bring her anything. She didn't need to eat or drink, she'd like to, but didn't need to. Maybe they hoped she would leave to get something. Not happening...especially because she wouldn't know where to go. Supposedly her wrapping up Winter's head had saved her according to a surgeon, but the doctors complained that the frostbite shouldn't have happened. It was a mess.

As she thought about all this, the doctor left, still glaring. Gneiss ignored him. After a few minutes of silent thought, Gneiss stood and walked over to the door. She could hear muttering.

"What is she? Those are not prosthetic, they're made of a gritty crystal." one said.

"Not sure, command said she's an 'important but unknown POI' that Ironwood knows about. Has she eaten or drank anything?" another questioned.

"Nope, I'm hoping she gets thirsty or hunger and leaves. She's hovering over the specialist like a fly."

"She has to have something to do with the Schnees. She has their crest cut as a gem in her forehead."

Gneiss walked back over to her chair, she didn't want to hear anymore. As she sat and stared, Winter shifted around, before opening her eyes. They were hazy, a look of confusion in them.

"Eh...uhh...hmm…? Where…?" she breathed, unable to move much.

"Winter?! Oh, give me a second." Gneiss ran over to door opening it and making the two men standing by it jump.

"Winter is awake." she announced, the doctor nodding and pushing past her.

"Specialist Schnee? How do you feel?" he asked walking over.

She looked at the man and blinked a few times, her mind behind her body.

"Uhh, not amazing." she attempted to grab the side of her bed to lift herself, before the doctor stopped her.

"I'm sorry Specialist, but you need to stay laying and rest. You have a nasty head wound and a concussion."

"But I need to...to bring...something…? My head…" she stopped moving and held her bandage, a headache flaring.

"Don't worry Winter. I have the core crystals." Gneiss smiled.

"Okay…" she looked at Gneiss, before frowning "Who…?"

"That's what we wish to know, but no one will say. Please attempt to rest, I'm going to go find our trauma expert." the doctor left, leaving the Blade and Driver alone.

"So...I remember going to the dust facility, getting the gems...then my memory fails me." Winter spotted the core in her head "Wha…?"

"Well Winter, I don't know exactly what happened, but from what I heard is you were flying a ship, these things called Grimm attacked and you crashed, I think. I woke up after the crash and fought off a load of black monster until some humans showed up and saved you from your injuries. My name is Gneiss, nice to speak to you Specialist Winter." she bowed, grinning.

"I see, when I crashed, I must have touched a core. Well, no way of fixing that…"

"Oh, give me a second." Gneiss messed around with Winter's Scroll, opening up the call function.

After fiddling with it, she found a contact called Ironwood, and pushed call.

* * *

 **Atlas cruiser, Vale**

Ironwood walked into the hanger, going straight towards where Steven had been working on Poppi's mode shift. Before he reached his station, his Scroll rang. It said it was Winter, but it most likely wasn't.

"Hello?" he picked it up.

"General, Winter is awake! And confused, but awake." Gneiss cheered.

"Really? Can you put her on?" after a few seconds, someone cleared their throat "Winter?"

"Yes General, sorry if I worried you…" she whispered, sounding tired.

"It's not a problem Winter, I'm just glad you okay, to an extent."

"Mmm...General, about this Blade…I don't remember..."

"Winter, it's fine. We can discuss it when you are in better shape. Can you tell her to come back on?" he asked.

Silence…

"Hello?" Gneiss' voice sounded.

"So, Gneiss, Winter won't be fit to move for at least a week, but I wanted her to come with the core crystals and some spare Atlasian knight. And leaving you there with a lot of people who don't know about Blades seems like a bad idea. So...I have a suggestion."

"What is it?"

* * *

 **Elsewhere**

The sound of a Scroll ringing made Ruby jump, near falling out of her bed. She rooted around her bed, picking up the device and answering it.

"Hello?! What time is it? Who is it?" she asked rapidly.

"Uhh, Miss Rose. It's me, Doctor Creastin, from the ship. We want you to come over to choose a frame and to make sure the lens for the glasses and contacts are the correct strength. After which we can see about choosing a glasses frame. You need to be ready for the tournament of Monday, so it would be best if you had a day or two to get used to them." Dr Creastin explained.

"Oh yeah...okay, uhh...is anyone there?" Ruby turned to the room.

"I'm here rose." Laevateinn answered "Your team wished for you to get more rest, so they went off to get a bit of training done and left me here. Although snapdragon was the least keen. I thought we talked about that..." he added.

"Wait, have you been watching me sleep?"

"No, I was reading this book I found buried deep in a book shelf. It's a...well, I believe filth is the best way to describe it." Laevateinn stood and walked over.

"Okay, so I just got to get over to the shiiiip...I'm in my pajamas…." Ruby realised.

"That won't matter."

"No, Laevateinn, I'm not walking over there in these and I'll mess up getting my clothes on and you aren't helping don't even ask!" Ruby cut off Laevateinn as he opened his mouth.

"Okay, I have an idea." he grabbed Ruby's Scroll "We'll be there soon." he hung up and handed it back.

"What are you…?" Laevateinn picked her up and walked over to the window, opening it "No Laevateinn what are you-?!"

And with a quick hop, he jumped out of the window, the two falling to the ground at speed. Ruby let out a loud yelp as she fell, before the force of hitting the ground made her stomach drop. Then the vertigo began as she felt herself speed off, far faster than her semblance.

Dr Creastin looked at her Scroll with a confused look. That Blade person sounded like he was planning something. As she wondered what, and then she heard what sounded like metal scraping on metal as something hit into a wall, shaking the whole room. The optometrist sitting next to wall flinched.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Not sure…"

After a few seconds, the door opened as Laevateinn staggered in, looking a bit dazed. Ruby stood beside him, her hair wind tossed.

"Hey Laevateinn? Could you not ever do that again? I feel, really sick…" Ruby shook her head as a wave of nausea hit her.

"I'm sorry, I lost my balance avoiding the doors and there wasn't enough traction between my greaves and the floor to stop myself…"

"But...I was just...that was less than 10 seconds. How did you…?" Dr Creastin was...surprised, to say the least.

"Ow my legs…" Laevateinn rubbed his thighs, his bones creaking.

"I guess it doesn't matter?" the optometrist shrugged.

* * *

 **Crew quarters**

Perun sat on the lower bed in her room, Brighid examining the vials of ether.

"Hmm, if you drink only one a day, we have enough for 17 days." Brighid muttered putting the vial down.

"Yes, hopefully that doctor finds out a way to spend us home before that, or that man fixes Poppi's furnace. I'm hoping for the way home." Perun sighed.

"I get the suspicion that us getting back to Alrest is not going to come about in two weeks."

"Friend can dream." Poppi hung her upper body from the top bunk she had been lying on "Maybe Penny Dadapon make break through?"

"I doubt it. He brought us here attempting to figure out a way to send you back. We might end up with everyone trapped here." Brighid suggested.

"Meh, Masterpon and friends won't be that bad. Must know to stay away from hole."

"That's if they know the ether mine is the cause. To them we just disappear around there right?" Perun asked.

"Yes, and resonance leads you to the mine and then stops dead."

"Mmm…where Morag?" Poppi asked looking at Brighid.

"Penny has to train with some group of students but didn't wish to leave KOS-MOS alone, so Lady Morag is watching her."

"Meh, KOS-MOS not awake yet, she a sleepy blade."

"I think it's more she internally exploded a bit." Perun guessed.

"And Nia and Kora?"

"'Training' with that Nero and Laevateinn I believe. That's what she said she would be doing, to practice for this tournament she has been thrown into."

"That seems like a bad idea by the way."

"Oh, Nia knows, everyone except Kora and that General knows."

* * *

AN: Okay, okay, when was the last time I updated this?...Feb 24...Hmmm...

Okay so,I'm not going to go on a detailed explanation, the only thing I can say is, I've been busy in life, and I've tried sitting down and writing this, many times, and found that I just couldn't. Forcing myself didn't help. So I just, stopped for a month, did college work, wrote some A curse of blood. I think I reached a point were I didn't want to write this anymore. But a month helped, I managed to write this over a few days between me submitting stuff. Sorry for wait, and the more wait that's going to happen for everything.  
I'm going on a trip for two weeks and then have tests the next week when I get back and then some other stuff...I'm going to be busy. I won't be replying to review or Pms that I get because I can't. I will read them, just can't do anything else. Sorry. And if this chapter feels like it kind of just, ended, sorry as well. I wanted to get a chapter out before I go, and if I got all I wanted in this, It'd be like 6000-6500 words, maybe more.

Review, Pm, bye.  
Anyway, enjoy.


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